


The Breaking Point

by JasonMorganfan87



Category: Charmed (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-07-22 06:06:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 31,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7422877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonMorganfan87/pseuds/JasonMorganfan87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 'Prince Charmed'.  Chris goes to see Piper after saving Wyatt from the Order only to be shunned once more.  This time, Chris finds he's reached his breaking point and decides to end the pain once and for all.  Can the Halliwell family save him before it's too late or will he be lost to them forever?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Piper Halliwell had just finished putting her son to bed for the night and headed out of the room. Just as she closed Wyatt's door, orbs filled the spot in front of her. She expected to see Leo or Paige, but instead it was her whitelighter, Chris Perry.

Piper immediately glared at the young man in front of her. "What the hell do you think you're doing here? I told you I didn't want to see you anymore!"

"Piper, please, just let me…"

"No, I'm not listening to your lies. I don't care that you saved Wyatt or that he suddenly trusts you. You're the one that put him in danger in the first place!" Piper yelled. If he thought one good act was going to redeem him for putting her baby in danger, he had another thing coming.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't know what else to do. I thought if Wyatt's powers were bound that I could save the future," Chris said. He had to get her to understand that he was at his wits end. He was trying to save the world and he was running out of time to do it.

"Don't you even think about going with that lie about Wyatt being evil. My baby is not evil!" Piper said. She refused to believe that her innocent little boy would grow up to be evil. Chris was the evil one. He was lying about Wyatt to protect himself. He was probably the real evil in the future.

"It's not a lie! I wish it were, but it's not. Wyatt is evil in the future and if we don't do something…"

"Shut up! If you say one more word, I swear to God I will blow your ass into next decade! If anyone is evil, it's you. Now get the hell out of my house, you little son of bitch before I blow you up anyway!" Piper yelled.

Chris felt like he had been blown up. The pain he felt from his mother's words was worse than being blown up a thousand times. His own mother had called him evil and threatened his life. And she meant it too. She really would blow him up, which would kill him since he was only half whitelighter.

Chris did his best to shield the overwhelming pain he was feeling and orbed out.

"And don't think you're going to the club either! You're not welcome in any place of ours!" Piper yelled at the ceiling, knowing he could hear her.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of hours later, Chris was on the floor of the back room of the club with a bottle of vodka in his hand. He'd heard Piper tell him not to go there, but where else could he go? He had no money and no ID. He had nothing.

Chris kept replaying the conversation he had with his mother in his head. He never thought he'd hear his own mother talk about him like that. Leo he could see doing it. It wouldn't be the first time his father had had a go at him. But his mother was different. She was always the one person he could count on no matter what. His aunts were great too, but his mom was his rock.

And now his mom hated him. There was no denying it either. Chris knew she hated him. She'd threatened to kill him and called him a son of a bitch. The one person he loved the most hated his guts. That fact filled him with more pain than he'd felt in his entire life, and he'd felt a lot of pain.

Chris took a swig from the vodka bottle. He kept waiting for it dull the pain like it always did before. Oh, he was no stranger to alcohol for pain numbing purposes. He drank a lot in the future to make himself feel better. It wasn't working this time though. He was pretty drunk, but no matt how much he drank, the pain was still there and it was unbearable.

Chris just wanted it to stop. He wanted it to stop hurting. He was sick of hurting. He'd been hurting since he was fourteen and his mother died. That was when the spiral started and it just never seemed to stop. Tonight was the tip of the pain filled iceberg, but it certainly hadn't started tonight.

Chris noticed a dinner knife on the floor by the couch. He immediately scrambled over to it and picked it up. It would be so easy. It could end all the pain once and for all. It wasn't like it was the first time he thought about it either. He'd thought about it a lot in the future, but he'd always found a reason not do it. The future needed saving. Wyatt needed saving and he was the only one willing to do it.

Now things were different. Yes, Wyatt still needed saving, but Chris felt like there was no prayer of saving him. How could he save him if his entire family was against him. They weren't going to help him now. Hell, his mother had threatened to kill him if he even showed up at the Manor again. So what could he do? He supposed he could go home, but that would be the same as using the knife. Wyatt would kill him the second he got back.

Chris stared at the knife. Again, Piper's words echoed in his head and the pain felt like it would crush him. That was when he made the decision. He could handle a lot, but he couldn't handle his mother's hatred. It was time to end it all once and for all.

Chris brought the knife to his wrist and cut.


	2. Chapter 2

Leo orbed into the manor to see Wyatt. He knew Wyatt probably wouldn't be up anymore, but he still wanted to see the boy. The few hours that he had been gone was hell and he needed to be reassured that his little boy was okay. He also wanted to talk to Piper about the things Chris had told them

Leo hadn't even fully materialized in the kitchen before Piper started screaming. "What the hell did I just tell…? Oh, sorry, Leo, I thought you were Chris."

"Chris was here?" Leo asked surprised. He would've thought Chris would give the sisters at least a few days before approaching the sisters.

"Oh, yeah, he was here. I told that little bastard where he could go to," Piper said angrily. Needless to say she was still seething from Chris' lies and him showing up at the house after she told him he wasn't welcome.

"Piper, I know you're angry with Chris, but…"

"Of course I'm angry! You should be too after the lies he told," Piper said before clearing dishes from the disastrous dinner and putting them into the sink.

"Yeah, Chris has told a lot of lies in the past, but I'm not so sure this one is," Leo said. He didn't want to believe his son was evil, but he'd seen the look on Chris' face, both after Wyatt had been kidnapped and up on the bridge not too long ago. This whole thing was ripping him up. It just didn't seem like a lie.

Piper narrowed her eyes at her ex-husband. "What did you just say?"

Leo gulped. Piper had that 'repeat that and I'll blow you up' look on her face "Look, I just think we should consider the possibility."

"I am not considering that my baby is evil! No way in hell! I could not raise an evil child!" Piper yelled. She refused to believe it even for a second. She could not be such a bad mother that her son ended up evil. She just couldn't be.

"It's not that simple. It could be something like what happened tonight. A demon could grab him and change him. It probably has nothing to do with how good or bad our parenting is," Leo said.

Piper shook her head. "No. This is nothing but a vicious lie that Chris made up to screw with us! If anyone is evil it's probably him!"

"And if you're wrong? If it is true and we do nothing, we're letting Chris' past repeat itself. Is that really a chance you want to take?" Leo asked

Piper slammed a plate in the sink, breaking it instantly. "My son is not evil! And if you're going to stand there and try to say he is, you can leave!"

Leo sighed and orbed out. He knew there was nothing more he could say to get through to Piper right now, and honestly, he couldn't really blame her. He didn't want to believe any of this either

Leo materialized seconds later in the back room of P3. He wanted to talk to Chris about what happened to Wyatt in his future. Maybe he would learn something that could convince Piper to at least consider it.

The sight that greeted Leo when he got the club horrified him. Chris was sprawled out on the floor by the couch and there was blood coming out of his blood on him and the ground.

Leo immediately rushed to the young man's side. "Chris!" He immediately started searching for a wound to heal. It didn't take him long to find it or to realize that he wouldn't be able to heal him.

Chris was bleeding from both wrists. There was a large slash across both as well. Leo wouldn't be able to heal this. Chris had done this to himself and Leo could not heal self-inflicted wounds. "Oh, Chris, what did you do?"

Leo could hardly believe this was happening. Why would Chris kill himself? He knew Chris had been upset earlier, but he never thought it was to the point where he considered ending his own life. Had this been a sudden thing or had they been so blind that they didn't see that the young man was teetering on the edge just waiting for the one thing that would push him over?

Leo pushed those thoughts away. He did not have time to think about why Chris did what he did. He had to get the kid some help fast. If he didn't, Chris' reasons wouldn't matter because he'd be dead.

"Hang in there, pal. We're gonna get you some help," Leo said before taking Chris by the arm and orbing him away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Leo sat in the waiting room of the hospital. He was waiting to hear news about Chris. He'd brought Chris in about an hour ago and they were still working on him.

Chris' condition was affecting him more than he thought it should. He wasn't surprised that he cared about Chris trying to kill himself. He would be affected by anyone doing such a thing. But this wasn't like just anyone hurting themselves. When he saw Chris on the ground like that as a result of his own mutilation, Leo felt like it was a part of him on dying. He didn't know why he felt like that, but he did.

Leo rubbed his eyes. He just could not believe this was happening. Ever since he got to the hospital, he kept replaying the scene at the club with Chris on the ground. It was like it was haunting him. Probably because he felt like he should've seen it somehow. He was an elder for God's sake and he used to be a whitelighter. It was his job to guide and help people when they needed it, and in his mind, that meant psychologically too. He'd always prided himself with being able to see when someone was in real trouble. But he hadn't seen it with Chris. He hadn't see how close that young man was to losing himself.

Leo also wondered what had pushed him over the edge. Chris was fine the last time he'd seen him. Well, okay, not fine, but he didn't seem suicidal. He was ready and willing to do whatever it took to get the sisters to trust him again. So what had changed? What had made him go in a completely opposite direction and try to commit suicide?

Leo was soon pulled from his thoughts by a new voice. "Family of Christopher Perry?"

Leo immediately turned to see a young doctor coming his way. He immediately stood up. "Hi. How is he?"

"How are you related to Mr. Perry?" the doctor asked.

"He's my brother," Leo lied. He knew he had to make up some kind of family connection between him and Chris if he was going to get any information about him.

"Well, your brother is stable. You saved his life by getting him here when you did. I doubt he would've been able to hold on for much longer," the doctor said.

Leo shuddered when he thought about the implications of that. It was just by chance that he went to the club. He hadn't intended to go there. It was a last minute decision as a result of his conversation with Piper. If it weren't for that spontaneous decision, Chris would've died. "So he's going to be okay then?"

"Well, physically anyway. Mr. Perry, did you have any inkling that your brother was suicidal?" the doctor asked.

"No. Maybe I should've," Leo said sadly. At the very least, as an Elder, he should've been paying better attention and figured it out. Chris was a whitelighter. It was his job to know when a whitelighter was in any kind of trouble, even the mental kind.

"No, sir, you can't do that to yourself. Sometimes it just happens without anyone realizing. We're going to be holding your bother for a seventy-two hour psych hold. Once that's done, we'll decide how to proceed." The doctor told him.

Leo nodded, not sure what else to say or do.

"We're getting him situated right now, but after that, you'll be able to see him."

"Thank you," Leo said. He then watched the doctor walk away..


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Piper went to the club to help set up for the band playing later and to make sure that Chris was moved out of the back room.

"Hey, Piper," one of Piper's workers greeted.

"Hey, Eric. Everything's still a go for tonight, right?" Piper asked.

"Yup. Just got off the phone with the band manager to confirm," Eric said.

"Good. Now was Chris around when you got here?" Piper asked. For the whitelighter's sake, she hoped the answer was no.

"No, I haven't seen him. He could still be in back though. I didn't look," Eric said.

"He better not be there," Piper grumbled under her breath before heading towards the back. She made it towards the back and stopped dead in her tracks. Chris wasn't there, but he'd left the place a mess. His things were still there and there was a half empty vodka bottle on the floor.

Oh, Piper was going to kill him. Not only was the little bastard not moved out, but he was probably drinking her liquor without paying for it. "Chris! Chris, you get your ass down here now!"

It was only moments before she saw orbs began to fill the room. Piper was about to start screaming when the person materialized and it turned out to be Leo instead of Chris. "You are not Chris. Where is Chris?"

"Chris isn't coming. He's… busy," Leo said.

Piper frowned. The way he said that was weird. It sounded so sad. The way he looked left something to be desired too. He had huge bags under his eyes and they looked to have a sadness to them. "Leo, are you okay? You look exhausted. Can Elders even get tired?"

"They can after the night I've had. Look, Piper, I have to go. Just don't call Chris anymore. If you need something, call me. Wait, did you need something?" Leo asked. He was so flustered with everything going on with Chris that he forgot that Piper had called Chris for a reason.

"Yeah, I need Chris to come and pick up his mess! Oh, and to pay for the bottle of booze he stole. I swear, I've had it with that little bastard, Leo. You get his ass down here now!" Piper ordered.

"No," Leo said simply. It was probably the first time he'd ever refused her in such a way. Oh, he'd denied her on occasion, but never like this. Whenever he refused to do something, which to be honest wasn't that often, he always did so gently and gave her a reason. Not this time. This time he just told her he wasn't going to do it. Even if Chris was at the point where he could come down, he wouldn't let him. The kid obviously was not well.

Piper narrowed her eyes at her ex-husband. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"Chris is not coming down, Piper, not anytime soon. Until further notice, I'll be acting as your whitelighter," Leo said. It wasn't usually something an Elder would do, but under the circumstances, he thought it was for the best. The sisters weren't going to accept another whitelighter, and honestly, he wasn't going to trust just anyone with them.

"If you wanna do that after gets his crap out of her, fine. It's not like I planned on using him for a whitelighter anymore anyway. But right now he needs to come down and deal with his mess. The little son of bitch seriously must have a hearing problem. I told him last night that he had…"

"Wait a minute. You saw Chris last night," Leo said. Everything had been so hectic that he forgot that Chris went to the manor after leaving the bridge. That meant that Piper was probably the last person to see Chris before he slit his wrists.

"Yes, I told you I saw him. You know, right before you took his side and tried to say that our son might grow up to be evil," Piper said while glaring.

"What did you say to him, Piper?" Leo asked urgently.

"What?" Piper asked in confusion.

"I need to know exactly what you said to Chris last night," Leo told her.

"I told him to get his ass out of the manor and the club. I told him I never wanted to see him again. Pretty much what I told him after he got Wyatt kidnapped," Piper explained.

"You didn't say anything else?" Leo asked. This still didn't make sense with Chris' suicide attempt. She's said that earlier and he didn't try to kill himself. Unless that was just his last ditch effort before he gave up. But even if that was the case, it still didn't explain why he wanted to die.

"I told him if he didn't leave, I'd blow his ass up," Piper said.

"Piper, you cannot blow Chris up. He's not like me or any other whitelighter. He's part witch. He won't materialize a few seconds later," Leo lectured.

"Oh, come on, I wasn't really gonna blow him up. I was just pissed and wanted him gone. And how do we know he's really a witch? He certainly doesn't act like a witch would. For all we know, he's a demon or a warlock who gained the power to orb," Piper said. After what happened last night, she wouldn't be surprised.

"Trust me, he's not," Leo said. If Chris had been either of those things, slitting his wrists wouldn't have caused such damage to him.

"Yeah, well, I'm not convinced. After everything he's done, he could very well be the evil in the future," Piper said.

Leo sighed. He didn't have it in him to argue right now. He was too preoccupied with Chris' suicide attempt. To that end, he still didn't get his reasons. If it did have something to do with the fight with Piper then he had to be missing something. "Anything else happen?

"No, that was it. Now what's going on?" Piper asked. Something was obviously up for Leo to pump her for information like this.

Leo opened his mouth to speak when he heard a jingle. The other Elders wanted to talk to him. They'd probably heard about Chris' suicide attempt and wanted to confer. "I have to go. The other Elders are calling."

"What? No, not until you tell me what's going on," Piper said firmly.

"I can't. I'm sorry, I have to go," Leo said before orbing out.

Piper yelled in frustration and then started cleaning up the mess Chris had left behind. She picked up a knife that appeared to have blood on it. She stared at it for a minute, but just chalked it up to Chris getting drunk and accidently cutting himself.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Leo orbed Up There and immediately headed towards a group of his colleagues. "What's up?"

"I think you know, Leo," Zola said.

Leo nodded. "Chris."

"What happened last night was unacceptable. No whitelighter has ever done such a thing before," Odin said.

"Odin, you make it sound as if he broke some kind of law. He was in pain and he acted accordingly. It was a drastic and tragic move, but it doesn't merit anything but getting him some help," Leo said.

"We're considering stripping him of his whitelighter powers," Sandra said.

"You can't do that. Chris' powers weren't granted to him by us. He was born with them. He hasn't done anything to abuse them and he hasn't hurt anyone. Well, no one but himself," Leo said. If anyone had told him a few months ago that he'd be going to bat for Chris like this, he would've said they were crazy, but things changed when he found Chris at the club. In that moment, Chris was no longer the lying whitelighter from the future. He was a kid who was in so much pain that he decided to end his own life. He was a kid who needed help.

"He is a whitelighter. We cannot have a whitelighter going around maiming himself," Odin said.

"Then temporarily take his charges away. I was going to suggest that anyway. He needs time to recover from whatever is happening to him. Just don't take his powers. That's just going to make things worse," Leo said. Chris obviously already felt like he had nothing left. Taking his powers away would just cause that feeling to increase.

"And wasn't it you who wanted us to strip him of his powers just a few months ago?" Odin asked.

"Things have changed. Look, he needs help, not to be punished," Leo said.

"Do you know why Chris chose this path, Leo?" Sandra asked.

"No. I'm trying to find out, but I don't know yet. I intend to find out though and then I will do my best to help him through it," Leo said. He couldn't explain it, but he felt the need to help Chris. Something inside him just told him that it was his responsibility to get the kid through this. So that was what he was going to do.

"Alright, we'll consider your solution. You are after all one of us now, so you get a vote," Sandra said.

"But your vote is not the only one," Odin said.

"We'll all consider the options and make a decision," Zola said.

"Okay, thank you. Now, if that's all, I'm going to get back to Chris," Leo said.

Sandra nodded.

Leo immediately orbed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Leo was stationed by Chris' bedside watching him sleep. The poor kid looked so pale and helpless right now. The only other time Leo had seen him even remotely like this was when Bianca had attacked him. This time was even worse, probably because Leo knew that this had been caused by Chris himself.

Leo hated seeing Chris like this. It was strange because he had never really cared about Chris before, but now he did. He couldn't explain it, but when he saw Chris like this, it was like seeing Piper or Wyatt like this. It broke his heart. He just prayed he could help him through it.

Suddenly Chris started moaning in his sleep. "No. Please, I was only trying to help."

Leo put his hand on top of Chris' head for comfort. "It's okay, Chris. Everything' going to be okay."

Chris continued to moan and thrash in distress. "I didn't mean for him to get kidnapped. I just wanted to stop it all once and for all."

"I know. It's okay. It's not your fault," Leo told him. And the reality was that it wasn't. Wyatt probably would've been kidnapped whether Chris had tried to get the sister to bind his powers or not. True, what Chris did wasn't right, but he was desperate, more desperate than Leo even realized until now. People did questionable things when they were desperate.

"Please don't hate me, Mom," Chris pleaded in his sleep.

Leo frowned. Chris had been talking about his mother? Leo had assumed that he had been talking about what happened last night with Wyatt and how Piper had reacted to it, but apparently this was about his mother. Or maybe it was about both. It was possible that things were a bit jumbled in Chris' head. He might be mixing up different events. The kid was pretty out of it right now.

"Mom, please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Chris cried.

Leo ran his hand through Chris' hair like he would Wyatt's. "It's okay, pal. You just sleep. Just get some rest. Everything is going to be okay."

Leo's gentle words and comforting words seemed to work because Chris soon quieted down and fell back into a peaceful slumber.

"I'm sorry, Chris. I'm sorry for the part we played in this," Leo said genuinely. He was not stupid. He knew they'd all contributed to this.

Leo's mind wandered to Chris' mother as well. She was obviously a part of it as well. Chris had somehow got it in his head that his mother hated him. She had obviously given him some reason to think that.

Leo was disgusted by it. He didn't know Chris' mother, but if Chris believed she didn't love him, she had obviously done something to make him think that. What kind of mother did that? He didn't care how Chris screwed up. No parent should turn their back on their child. Leo had only been a parent for less than a year and he already knew that there was nothing Wyatt could do to turn to cause him to turn his back on him. Even if it was true that he was evil, which it seemed it was, he wouldn't stop loving him.

Leo's thoughts were interrupted by Chris' doctor entering the room.

"Hi, Mr. Perry. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to step outside while I do a quick examination," the doctor said.

"Of course. I'll be right back, Chris," Leo said before standing up and walking outside.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chris opened his to find himself in what looked to be a hospital and Leo by his side. He also felt stinging pain in both his wrists. "If this is the afterlife, I'm not impressed."

"You're in the hospital, Chris," Leo told him.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that. I guess I owe that to you. If you're here waiting for a thank you, you can keep dreaming. I didn't want to be saved," Chris said. He'd slit his wrists for a reason. He'd wanted the pain to go away. Dying seemed to be the only way to accomplish that. It still seemed that way. But of course Leo couldn't just let him have his own way for once. It was ironic really. The one time in his life when Leo got involved in his life was the one time he wished he hadn't.

"Yeah, I got that, Chris. Why'd you do it?" Leo asked. Okay, so he already knew that part of it had to do with Piper, but he wanted to know what Chris had been thinking when he decided to kill himself.

"It doesn't matter. You should've just let me be," Chris said.

"You expected me to let you die? I could never do that, Chris," Leo said. He couldn't believe Chris would think he could do it. No matter what their differences had been, he could never let Chris die if it were in his power to stop it.

"Why not. I'm nothing to you. I'm just the guy that sent you to Valhalla," Chris said. He was well aware that he was admitting guilt in sending Leo away. It didn't matter to him anymore. He didn't care what happened to him. Hell, maybe it would get the Elders to recycle him. Then the pain would finally end.

Leo could hardly believe it. He'd tried for months to prove that Chris was responsible for his trip to Valhalla. After a while, he'd let it go because of how much Chris had done for the girls, but that didn't mean he still didn't think about it. Now he knew for a fact. Chris had admitted. Yet somehow he no longer cared. Chris sending him to another universe seemed so trivial to agony Chris was going through right now. "Yeah, well, things have changed."

Chris blinked as if he heard wrong. "I just told you I sent you to Valhalla. I wanted you out of the way so I could get the girls to trust me without your interference."

"I heard you, Chris. It's not like it's anything I didn't already know. I also know why you're saying it. Suicide attempt number two, right? Well, it's not going to work. I don't care what you did anymore. I'm here and I'm fine. You're the one who's in trouble. And I'm going to do whatever I can to help you," Leo said.

Chris glared at his father. "I don't want your pity, Leo."

"I'm not offering you, pity, Chris, I'm offering you my help," Leo told him.

"I don't need your help, Leo," Chris said while glaring.

"You need someone's help. What happened last night is proof of that. I'm sorry, Chris. We should've seen that you were in trouble. We should've helped you before it got to this point," Leo said.

"Stop it!' Chris said angrily.

"No. I won't stop. Everyone else has, haven't they? Everyone else has left you in one way or another. You needed them and they left you," Leo said.

Chris shifted uncomfortably and looked away. Leo's words were hitting way too close to home. Yes, everyone had left him. Either willingly like Leo from the future and Wyatt or his mom and aunts who were killed. The only thing that had kept him going was the hope that he could change things. That had disappeared when Piper pushed him out. Not only did he lose his faith in saving Wyatt because he knew his family wouldn't help him, but his own mother had also rejected him. She'd threatened to kill him even. It was all enough to send him over the edge.

"But you're not alone anymore, Chris. I know I'm not your family, but I'm here for you. I wanna help you though this," Leo told him.

"Stop. Please stop," Chris said. This time it was a plea. He couldn't take this, not from Leo. He knew that it would just go away. It wouldn't be the first time Leo promised to be there for him and then broke that promise. This time wouldn't be any different.

"I won't stop, but I will let you be for now. Get some rest, Chris. You need it," Leo said.

Chris didn't' say anything. He just closed his eyes and began to drift back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Piper was in her kitchen furiously cleaning it. She cleaned when she was upset, or in this case pissed off. She still couldn't believe Leo had dismissed her the way he had. Not only did he refuse to get Chris to clean up his mess, but he'd blown off all her questions about him and left to go talk to the damned Elders.

Soon the back door opened. Piper turned around to see her sister, Paige come in.

"Hey," Paige said.

"Hi," Piper said through gritted teeth as she continued to clean.

"You okay?" Paige asked.

"Depends. Does wanting to murder your whitelighter and your ex-husband count as being okay?" Piper asked.

"Why do you wanna kill Leo?" Paige asked. She didn't even bother asking about Chris. She knew why her sister was so pissed off with him. She couldn't say she blamed her much after what happened last night.

"He's acting weird. I called Chris because I wanted him to get his crap out of the club and clean up his mess, but Leo showed up instead. He said Chris wouldn't be answering our calls for a while, that Leo himself would be acting as our whitelighter. I told him that was fine, but I still wanted Chris to get his stuff out. And then he told me no."

Paige cringed. Yeah, she could see that pissing her sister off. It was out of character for Leo too. He usually backed Piper no matter what. That was probably why Piper got so mad about it.

"Then he pumped me for information on the last conversation I had with Chris. When I asked him what was going on, he got a call from the Elders and took off," Piper finished in irritation.

"You're right, Leo is acting weird. Maybe he'll show up later and explain though. After he's done with the Elders," Paige said.

Piper stopped and looked at her sister. "You don't think Chris did something to him do you? To make him act so weird.

Paige frowned. She wanted to say no, but Chris had proven himself to use desperate measures to get what he wanted. He'd proved that last night. But would he really go that far? "Did Leo seem like he was under a spell or anything?"

"No, he just seemed upset. Like he knew something that the rest of us didn't. It almost seemed like it was haunting him," Piper said.

"Well, then it probably wasn't Chris. Leo probably does know something we don't," Paige said.

"But what? Why was he pumping me about Chris?" Piper asked.

"Why don't you try asking him again? I'm sure he's done with the Elders by now," Paige said.

Piper sighed after a minute. "Leo!"

Orbs filled the room a few seconds later revealing Leo. "Unless this is demon related, I don't have time." Chris was asleep again, but he didn't want to leave him for long. He'd been alone long enough.

"Well, too bad! What the hell is going on with you, Leo? What's the deal with Chris?" Piper demanded to know.

"It's not my place to tell you and I really don't have time anyway," Leo said. He decided not to hide that there was something to tell. Piper already knew there was due to their conversation at the club. But he wouldn't tell her. Chris was entitled to his privacy.

"Damn it, Leo! If Chris has done something, we have the right to know!" Piper said angrily.

"No, you don't! Not about this. Now I have to go," Leo said before he started to orb out.

"Fine then I'll Just have Paige take me to Chris!" Piper yelled after him.

Leo immediately changed directions and orbed right back. "No. Piper, you need to stay away from Chris. Leave him be!"

"Why?" Piper asked.

"Look, will you just trust me? You need to leave him alone for a while," Leo said firmly. He really didn't want to think about how Chris would react if he saw Piper right now. She was the last straw before he'd tried to kill himself. Being subjected to her anger again could be disastrous to his recovery.

"I trust you, Leo. It's him I don't trust. Now tell me what's going on or I'll go to the source and ask him myself," Piper told him.

Leo sighed. He didn't see any other choice. He didn't want to expose Chris' problems, but more than that, he wanted to keep Piper away from Chris. Telling her the truth was the only way to do that. "Alright, fine. After I left here last night, I went to the club. I found Chris on the floor. He'd slit his wrists."

Paige's mouth dropped open in horror. She just pictured Leo finding Chris in such a position and it made her stomach turn. "Chris tried to commit suicide?"

Leo nodded. "A couple of minutes later and he would've succeeded."

"Did he know you were going to be there?" Paige asked. She wanted to know if Chris was really serious or if it was just a game to get sympathy. She hoped it wasn't, but she'd seen it happen a couple of times when she worked for social services.

"I didn't even know I was going to be there. It was a last minute decision that I made after talking with Piper. It was just a split second. It could've easily gone the other way. I could've decided not to go see Chris or to talk with him in the morning. It was only by a miracle that I decided to go," Leo said. It still hit him hard. If he had decided on any other course of action, Chris would be dead right now.

"So than he meant it. I didn't know you would save him. He wanted to die," Paige realized. She shuddered thinking about it. Someone she knew had tried to kill himself. He'd taken a knife to his wrists and tried to end his life.

Piper was shocked silent. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was having a hard time even comprehending the words. She'd heard them and she knew what they meant, but the idea of Chris doing something like that was unbelievable. Chris was the conniving, lying whitelighter from the future. Yes, apparently, he was also a young man who tried to end his life. The question was why. What had driven him to do the unthinkable?

Piper immediately flashed back to the night before. She remembered the look in Chris' eyes right before he orbed out that final time. They looked so sad and hurt. Piper had ignored it at the time because she was too angry to care, but now that she thought back on it, she realized just broken he really was.

"Piper, are you okay?" Paige asked.

"I…I… I have to check on Wyatt," Piper said before fleeing from the room. She wanted to get as far away from this situation as humanly possible. Because she knew why. She knew why Chris had made the decision to kill himself when he did and she couldn't face it. She couldn't face that she nearly caused the death of another human being.


	6. Chapter 6

Paige was in the kitchen doing the dishes. She'd decided to take over for Piper in cleaning the kitchen. It said a lot to how upset she was because she hated to clean. She was hoping it would get her mind of Chris, but so far it wasn't working.

Paige could still feel her hands shaking from learning what happened to Chris. It just freaked her out so much, more than any demon ever could. Chris, her whitelighter, tried to commit suicide. He'd taken a knife and slashed open his wrists in an attempt to kill himself.

Paige just didn't understand it. She didn't understand where the urge to do such a thing came from and why she didn't see it. Why hadn't she known Chris was in so much pain? She considered herself to be quite good at reading people. Maybe not as good as Phoebe who could actually sense people's emotions, but good enough to see when someone was so lost they were considering suicide. But she hadn't seen this coming. She hadn't had one inkling that Chris was so far gone. Looking back she could see times when he was in pain, but everyone felt pain at times. She just had no idea that Chris' was so deep that he felt he had no other solution than to stop living.

Paige's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the back door opening. She looked over to see Phoebe walk inside.

"Hey," Phoebe greeted.

"Hi. Where have you been?" Paige asked as she shut the water off and dried her hands.

"I had to stop by my office to pick up a couple of things and I had to speak to Elise. You're gonna give me a lift back to Hong Kong on your way back to Richard's, right?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh, actually, I think you should put that off for a while. We have a situation," Paige said.

Phoebe groaned. "Oh, not another demon. We just dealt with more than enough of those yesterday."

"No, not a demon. It's Chris," Paige said sadly.

"Oh, God, what has he done now? He couldn't even wait a whole twenty-four hours before pulling something else? What does he have a death wish?" Phoebe asked.

Paige shuddered at her sister's choice. "Yeah, Phoebe, he does. Look, I'm just gonna come out and say it. Last night, Chris tried to commit suicide."

"Chris tried to… What?" Phoebe asked in shaky voice. She had been prepared for a lot of things when her sister mentioned a situation with Chris, but this was not one of them. Just the thought of him doing this shook her to the core. It was the one of the most drastic things a person could do.

"He went to the club last night and slit his wrists," Paige told her.

Phoebe dropped her purse to the floor and went over to the table and sat down. "Oh my God!"

Paige followed her sister and sat down next to her. "Leo found him a little while after he did it."

"And he healed him?" Phoebe asked. Okay, so she knew Leo wouldn't be able to heal all of Chris' wounds. He wouldn't be able to heal Chris' reasons for trying suicide in the first place. Only time and a lot of help could do that. But at least Leo could heal his physical injuries.

"He couldn't. Leo can't heal self-inflicted wounds," Paige said. She remembered that from the time Piper had gotten so drunk she'd passed out. Leo couldn't heal her because she'd done it to herself. "He took him to the hospital. Apparently he got there just in time. Much longer and Chris would've died."

"And that's what he wanted," Phoebe said with a shudder. "Why'd he do it?"

"I don't know. If Leo knew, he didn't stick around long enough to tell me. He's taken this to heart. He's barely left Chris' side since it happened. He's acting almost like a dad to him. I guess it's understandable. He found Chris. He saw what the guy did to himself," Paige said. As hard as it was for them to take, it had to be worse for Leo since he actually saw what Chris did to himself.

"Does Piper know?" Phoebe asked.

Paige nodded. "She's the reason Leo even told us. He didn't want to because he didn't want to divulge Chris' business. Anyway, Piper knew Leo was keeping a secret about Chris and she threatened to go to Chris herself if he didn't tell her what was going on."

"Oh, that would've probably ended in disaster. No wonder Leo finally gave in. How did she take it? Phoebe asked. Honestly, it could've gone either way in her opinion. Under normal circumstances, Piper would have compassion for Chris, but she'd been really angry with him the last time she saw him. There was a chance she either wouldn't care or would think it was just another game Chris was playing.

"She didn't say much. Actually, she said nothing about it. She left the room mere minutes after Leo told us. I could tell it shook her though. Her lack of response was proof of that," Paige said.

"I think it's safe to say that it's shaking all of us. God, why didn't I see it? Why didn't I feel it? I'm an empathy for God's sake!" Phoebe scolded herself. She should've felt Chris' pain. She should've been able to do something to stop him from going this far.

"You've said it yourself, you can't feel anything from Chris," Paige said.

"Not unless it's very intense. If he was so bad he wanted to die, it had to be intense, Paige. Why didn't I notice? Hell, even without my empathic ability I should've realized something was wrong. We all should've," Phoebe said.

Paige nodded in agreement. She had been thinking the same thing just before Phoebe had arrived. "We probably should've seen something, but we didn't, none of us did."

"So what do we do now?" Phoebe asked. She felt she needed to do something to help Chris. He might have made some mistakes, but he was their whitelighter and he was hurting. They needed to be there for him.

Paige didn't have the chance to answer because at that moment because at that moment, they both saw orbs fill the room and turn into a man with Elder robes.

Phoebe stood up. "Um, hi. Can we help you?"

"Yes, you can get your sister," the elder said. "We have made a decision regarding the situation with Chris."


	7. Chapter 7

Chris woke up again several hours later. Once again, he found Leo by his side. He was kind of surprised. He assumed Leo would leave, despite the fact that he said he was going to be there for him. Leo said things to Chris all the time that he didn't really mean. He'd assumed this was one of those things. He'd assumed his father had only said that to absolve his guilt and that he would disappear when that went away. "You're still here."

"I told you I was going to be here to help you," Leo reminded him.

"Yeah, well people say things they don't mean all time." 'Especially you,' Chris added to himself.

Leo cringed. He had a feeling Chris was speaking from experience when he said that. A lot of people had obviously damaged this kid in big ways, of which Leo knew he was one. "Well, I don't say things I don't mean. If I say I'm going to be here, I mean it."

Chris seriously could've laughed. In the future, Leo said things he didn't mean all the time, especially to him. He made a habit of it. "Well, I don't need you. You can go."

"I'm not going anywhere," Leo said firmly. At that moment though, he heard a jingle from above. He looked at the ceiling and frowned. It was the Elders, but they weren't calling from 'Up There'. They were calling from the Manor. Why in the world would any Elder be calling form the Halliwell Manor?

Chris noticed the look on Leo's face. "Something tells me you are."

"It's the Elders. Look, I will be right back," Leo told him. He didn't want to go at all, but this was probably about Chris and he had to be there to hear their decision.

"Don't bother," Chris said before turning away. He didn't want Leo to come back. All him being was, was an illusion that he cared.

"I'll be back," Leo said before orbing out. He materialized in the kitchen of the Manor to find all three sisters there with Odin. "Odin, what are you doing here?"

"We've come to a decision about what to do with Chris," Odin said.

"I figured, but why discuss it here?" Leo asked.

"Why are you making decisions about Chris anyway? What happened to him was mortal," Paige said.

"You don't think that would stop them, do you?" Piper said as she glared at the opposing Elder. She couldn't help it. She did hate the Elders.

"Piper," Leo admonished. He didn't need her antagonizing the Elders right, not when Chris' future was at stake.

"We're meeting here because our decision directly impacts the Charmed Ones," Odin said answering Leo, but ignoring the other questions and comments directed towards him.

"And the decision is?" Leo asked anxiously.

"We took all opinions into account, including yours, Leo. We have decided not to strip Chris of his whitelighter powers at this point," Odin said.

"Whoa, that was a possibility?" Paige asked shocked. She didn't even know the Elders could do that. Chris' powers were genetic. She assumed that they couldn't be taken from him.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He was really glad Chris would keep his powers. Taking them from him would've made things so much worse.

"We will, however, be suspending his orbing ability," Odin said.

"For how long?" Leo asked. He wouldn't argue with that decision. While he knew Chris wouldn't like it, it was probably for the best. Chris wouldn't be able to orb away to hurt himself again.

"Until we're certain that he is no longer a danger to himself. Chris will also reside in this house under the supervision of the Charmed Ones," Odin continued.

"What? You can't do that!" Piper protested. She did not want Chris there. Not just because of everything that went down the day before, but also because she didn't want the reminder of how badly she'd screwed up with him.

Odin glared at her. "Piper Halliwell, it is our opinion that you are the reason this situation exists. Therefore, it is for you to clean up! If you can't, Christopher's powers may not be the only ones we take."

"Wait a minute; this is not Piper's fault. Tell him, Leo. Tell this guy that Piper is not responsible for Chris' suicide attempt," Phoebe said.

Leo looked at his ex-wife with an apologetic look on his face. He wanted to be able to say what Phoebe was asking him to, but he couldn't. "I can't."

Piper visibly flinched at Leo's words. She'd already known inside her that she was responsible, but it was much different hearing Leo say the words out loud.

"And for that reason, I think it's a bad idea for Chris to be here. His self-esteem can't take another hit," Leo said.

"I can't believe you're saying this. You actually think Piper is to blame for this?" Phoebe asked.

"Not completely, but she contributed to it, as well as the rest of us, and her last conversation with him directly led to his decision to commit suicide," Leo said.

"Why do you say that?" Paige asked.

"I don't. He did," Leo said as he thought back to Chris' mumbles in his sleep. "Look, he shouldn't be in this house. It will be detrimental to his recovery."

"You think I drove him to this point and you're afraid I'll do it again," Piper said. It wasn't a question. She could tell that that was what he thought.

Leo looked straight at her and replied, "Yes. You have a temper, Piper. When things don't go your way, you lash out. Chris can't take that right now. He can't have you screaming at him that he's evil and threatening to blow him up!"

"Wait, she never said that," Phoebe argued. The last time they'd seen Chris, Piper had told him she didn't believe the things he told them and had made him leave, but it wasn't as severe as what Leo was saying. She never threatened his life.

Piper looked away guiltily.

"Did you?" Phoebe asked.

"I was mad, okay? I didn't think he was going to hurt himself over it," Piper said.

"But the fact of the matter is he did. Now it is up to the three of you to fix this," Odin said.

"Odin…"

"The decision has been made, Leo. You have no further say in the matter. You are an Elder, you are not his father," Odin said.

"Yeah, well, his father isn't here. Someone has to look out for him. And if you insist he stay here then I'm staying too. Consider me on vacation," Leo said.

Odin glared at him. "You can't do that."

"I just did. I promised Chris that I would help him through this and I intend to keep that promise. I won't be another person he can't count on. Have my powers stripped, I don't care. I'm sticking by Chris until the end," Leo said before turning to the Charmed Ones. "I still think this is a bad idea. I don't think Chris belongs in this house. But it seems my hands are tied. So the three of you have to get it together. I'm not going to let Chris be vilified again."

"Oh, please, like you've never said anything cruel to him," Piper said sarcastically.

"You're right, I have, but I'm dealing with it. I know I screwed up and I'll do what I can to make it right. I hope you will do the same," Leo said before orbing out without giving anyone the chance to speak.


	8. Chapter 8

Chris was sitting up in bed quite annoyed. Right after Leo left, a psychiatrist had shown up to talk to him about what he had done and how he needed to open up and talk about it if he was going to heal. Yeah, like that was going to happen. No mortal doctor would even know what to do with the things in his head.

Soon orbs filled the room and Leo was revealed. "Hey."

"Great, you're back," Chris said unenthusiastically.

"Yeah, I would've been back sooner, but I sensed another presence in the room.

"Yeah, aren't shrinks grand?" Chris asked sarcastically.

"Well, did he help you at all?" Leo said.

"Oh, yes, tons. I had a major breakthrough. I told him all about your evil son from the future and how he uses his magical powers to destroy the world," Chris said sardonically. Seriously, sometimes he thought Leo was truly stupid.

"That's not what I meant. I just figured maybe you could've talked to him without all the magic mixed in. I don't think your powers are magical anyway, Chris," Leo said. Yes, magic was involved because Chris was magical, as were everyone in his life, but his issues with people were very mortal. The pain and inadequacy he felt were due to human issues.

"I'm not talking to some stranger about my life," Chris said firmly.

"It doesn't have to be a psychiatrist. You could talk to me if you want. I'd be more than happy to listen," Leo said.

"Like I said, I'm not talking to some stranger about my life," Chris repeated. Leo might be his father one day, but he was still a virtual stranger to him. Hell, he was that even in the future. "So what did the wonderful Elders have to say?"

Leo sighed and sat down in the chair next to Chris' bed. This was not going to be easy to say. He knew that Chris was not going to like it one bit. Hell, Leo didn't like it either. "Your attempt to kill yourself has the Elders in an uproar. No whitelighter has ever tried to commit suicide before."

"Oh, well, I'm so sorry I upset you and your buddies," Chris said insincerely. He didn't give a rat's ass how the Elders were impacted. Another thing he got from his mother. He was a lot like her. The past version of her might have noticed that if she didn't hate him so much.

"The Elders have decided to suspend your orbing ability for a while," Leo told him.

"Whatever," Chris said almost indifferently. He just couldn't bring himself to care right now. He didn't even care about being alive, let alone having his powers. Well, that wasn't completely true. He did care about being alive. He simply wished he wasn't.

Leo cringed. He was expecting a completely different reaction from Chris. I expected him to be angry. He actually preferred that to this. At least then he would know there was something in Chris willing to fight. "There's something else. Until they're sure you won't hurt yourself again, the Elders want you to live at the Manor."

Okay, now that Chris cared about. That he wasn't going to take lying. "Are you kidding me?! No way in hell!

"You don't have a choice, Chris. Believe me, I don't like it either," Leo sad.

"No, of course you don't," Chris said. Leo didn't want him near his precious son, so of course he was protesting this arrangement.

Leo knew immediately what Chris was thinking. "No, it's not like that. I told you last night I trust you. The truth is I don't trust them right now. I don't trust that what happened last night won't happen again. My concern for you going there is for you, not them."

Chris was slightly surprised by his father's response. Never in his life had the man ever been concerned for him. It was ironic really. His mother had always been the one on his side in the future and his father had always brushed him aside for everything else. Now it seemed that those positions had reversed.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know it's not exactly the best arrangement," Leo said.

"So stop it. You're an Elder," Chris said.

"I can't. My opinion might matter now, but it doesn't carry so much weight that it overrules everyone else's," Leo said.

"Fine, I'll stop it then. I won't go," Chris said simply.

"You don't have a choice, Chris. If you don't go, they will take your powers and you will be mortal. And as a mortal who just tried to commit suicide, they will institutionalize you," Leo said. He'd given this some thought. He thought about ignoring what Odin had said, but it wouldn't have ended well. They would stick Chris in a mental hospital and that wouldn't be any better for the kid. While he thought Chris did need some sort of help, being locked up wasn't t.

Chris let out a yell of frustration. "This is freaking insane! They shouldn't have the right to decide this!"

"You're right, they shouldn't. Look, you won't be alone, okay? I'll be there too. I won't let what happened last night happen again," Leo promised.

"Oh, please. Even if I believed you meant that, what good would it do? Piper doesn't want me there and she will make that very clear. You won't go against her. You never do," Chris said. Leo was very much a 'yes man' when it came to Piper. Even in the future that was how it worked. He never said no when she wanted something. Well, except when it came to Chris.

"Yeah, well, it won't be like that this time. I've already told all the sisters that I won't let what happened last night happen again, and I won't. I love Piper, but the way she treated you was wrong. The way all us treated you was wrong. It will not happen again. I promise you that," Leo said. He meant every word too. What Chris said about him never going against Piper was true, but this time was different. He would not stand by her at the expense of Chris' life. "Just give me a chance, Chris. Let me help you. I promise you things will be okay if you do."

Somehow Chris doubted that. Things didn't seem like they would ever be okay. His mother hated his guts, his aunts weren't much better, and somehow his father was his ally. Talk about the world being turned upside down. No, things probably would not be okay. But really what did he have to lose at this point? He was already at the point where he wanted to die. What was worse than that? "Fine."


	9. Chapter 9

Phoebe and Paige walked into the kitchen the next day to find Piper making breakfast. She looked anything but happy. "Hey," Phoebe said.

"Hi," Piper said as though nothing was wrong. Her tone betrayed her though.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Piper asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because the Elders, Leo included, told you just yesterday that you aided in Chris' suicide attempt and once they left, you locked yourself in your bedroom," Phoebe said.

"I don't want to talk about Chris," Piper said. She didn't even want to think about Chris. Thinking about Chris brought her nothing but guilt. She tried not to feel it. She tried to tell herself that what happened to Chris was not on her, that Chris' suicide was his fault and his alone. Hell, she'd even tried to tell herself that it was just another one of his manipulations, but she knew all of that was simply justification. She was trying to justify the way she treated him. And the more his suicide attempt sunk in, the more she realized it was unjustifiable.

"Honey, you're going to have to talk about him. You're going to have to talk to him. He's going to be in this house soon and you won't be able to avoid him. Piper, you do realize that Leo and that other Elder were wrong, right?" Phoebe asked. She knew that Piper had said some heated things to Chris, but that didn't make her responsible for hurting himself, and honestly, after what he'd pulled with Wyatt, she couldn't really her sister.

Piper sighed. She didn't want to talk about this, but it seemed her sisters weren't going to let her be about it. Besides, Phoebe was right. She couldn't avoid the subject of Chris for long thanks to the freaking Elders. "You know, I've spent nearly every waking moment since I found out what Chris did thinking about the last time I saw him. He came to me and he begged me to listen to him, but I wouldn't."

"Piper, he tried to manipulate us into binding Wyatt's powers. He got him kidnapped. You had no reason to listen," Phoebe said. She felt for Chris, she really did. He was brought to the point where he felt the only out he had was through death and that was truly sad, but it didn't excuse all the lies.

"You don't get it. It's not about what he did or how wrong it was. That really doesn't matter right now. It's about how he was when he was here. He was still actively trying to gain my trust. He was still determined to do what he came to do. He wasn't suicidal. What am I supposed to make of that? He wasn't suicidal when he got here, but he was when he left," Piper said. That was the thing that got her. If it weren't for her knowing he was okay when he came to see her and not when he left, she could make herself believe that her sisters were right and it wasn't her fault.

"Okay, Piper, I don't think that's entirely true. Chris didn't do this because of one conversation. Look, maybe you're right and you did push him over the edge, but I think it's very likely that he was already on the edge to begin with," Paige said.

"Right, but I gave him the final shove. Do you have any idea what that is doing to me right now? I'm supposed to protect the innocent. I'm supposed to be someone whitelighters and witches can trust and count on. Chris is both and I nearly killed him," Piper said guiltily. She'd said to more than one person that she thought Chris might be evil, but the truth was that that was just something she wanted to believe. She wanted to believe that so she didn't have to believe that that title went to her son. Chris was manipulative and deceptive more often than not, but that was a far cry from evil. He was a witch and a whitelighter and he tried to kill himself because of her.

"Come on, Piper. One conversation could not have had that big an effect on him," Phoebe said. She found it hard to believe that a few harsh words from someone he barely knew could cause Chris such pain. There had to be another reason he did what he did.

"That's not necessarily true. I'm sorry, Piper, I don't mean to hurt you, but when I worked for Social Services, I heard of much less driving a suicidal teen over the edge. When you already have it in your head, it's not hard to find the one thing to push you over the brink," Paige said.

"Are you saying it is Piper's fault?" Phoebe asked with a glare.

"No, not alone. She didn't create the original problem. But did she deliver the final blow? Probably," Paige said. With what Piper had just told them about Chris coming to try to make amends, it made her believe that maybe Piper was right. That her harshness had pushed him to his breaking point.

"There's no probably about it. I did this. Leo's right, Chris shouldn't be here," Piper said. Like Leo, she was afraid of what happened happening again. She felt a lot of guilt for what happened, but she still had a lot of issues with Chris that had nothing to do with his suicide. She was still angry at him for all the lies and getting Wyatt kidnapped, and she still wasn't ready to accept what he told them about Wyatt. She was afraid that Leo was right. That she would lose it again and cause Chris to hurt himself again.

"But there's no choice. If we don't do this, Chris will lose his powers and you probably will as well, Piper. That's not n anyone's best interests," Paige said.

"But is this any better? I'm just not sure me being around Chris is a good idea.

"It won't happen again, Piper. You're aware of what happened. You know how that Chris' emotional stated is fragile. You won't make the same mistake twice," Paige assured her.

"Well, Leo wasn't so sure of that," Piper commented.

"Leo's acting weird. It's like he's Chris' new protector. It's really strange," Phoebe said.

"I think Leo was really shaken by Chris' suicide attempt. I think after finding him like that, Leo saw something in him that he hadn't seen before. For the first time, he saw him as a messed up kid instead of someone who made him leave his family," Paige said.

"Then Leo will protect Chris. He'll protect him from me if he has to," Piper said. He had to. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she hurt Chris like this again.

"Piper, that won't be necessary," Phoebe said confidently.

"I hope you're right. Now I need to finish breakfast and get to the club, so if you guys wouldn't mind," Piper said, indicating that she wanted to be alone.

Both sisters were reluctant, but they did as Piper asked and left the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Phoebe walked into the attic to find Paige putting all the weapons they'd accumulated over the years into a big box. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm packing all the weapons up," Paige said as she put a crossbow in the box.

"Uh, why?" Phoebe asked slowly.

"Well, Chris will be here later today. I'm no expert or anything, but I'm pretty sure weapons and suicidal people don't mix," Paige said sarcastically.

"Okay, but we need those things. They come in handy sometimes when demons show up out of the blue and our powers aren't enough," Phoebe argued.

"I'm not getting rid of them. They'll be locked safely away in the basement. We barely go in there anyway," Paige said before going over to grab the book.

"Whoa, okay, what are you doing with the book? The weapons are one thing, but the book?" Phoebe asked. This was crazy. They couldn't change their whole lives over this, especially their Wiccan lives. It was very important.

"Phoebe, Chris needs to heal. He needs to forget about this obsessive quest he's on for the time being and focus on putting his life together. He can't do that if the Book of Shadows is practically thrown in his face," Paige explained before placing the book into the box and closing it up.

Soon, they both saw orbs appear into the room. Leo materialized seconds later.

"Hey, Leo. Where's Chris?" Paige asked.

"He'll be here this afternoon. I just wanted to come by first and talk to you all. Where's Piper?" Leo asked.

"Where she always is when she's stressed? She's in the kitchen," Phoebe said.

"Okay, well, I need you guys to get ready for Chris. There are certain things that need to be done," Leo said.

"I'm already on it. I've already packed up all the weapons and the book. I'm headed down to the kitchen next to get all knives and forks," Paige said.

Leo nodded. "Good, that's a good start. You should get rid of the potions too. Some of those are lethal. He could use them to hurt himself."

"Leo, how are we supposed to defend ourselves against demon attacks if we're doing all this?" Phoebe asked.

"You have your powers, and it's not like I'm suggesting you get rid of the stuff completely. I just need it hidden away. Chris' life is in jeopardy here," Leo said seriously.

"Of his own making," Phoebe said quietly.

"Phoebe!" Paige admonished. She'd heard what her sister said.

"No, look, I get it. Chris has had a difficult time and we haven't helped him, but doesn't he have any responsibility here? He's the one that tried to take the easy way out," Phoebe said. She realized that Chris was very troubled to do what he did, but she felt that he should held a lot of the blame for his suicide attempt. No one forced his hand after all.

"You make it sound as if he did it at the first sign of trouble. I don't believe that. Chris has been fighting ever since he got here and probably for a lot longer. If even half of what he told us about the future is true, then he lived a pretty dark life. But he still kept fighting. He went so far as to come to come back here to save someone that is responsible for that darkness," Leo said. He caused him pain to think that his own son was responsible for a great deal of Chris' and probably many others' pain, but he knew it was true. Chris was being truthful about Wyatt.

"You believe him about Wyatt?" Phoebe asked.

Leo nodded. "I don't want to, but I do. He's got no reason to lie about it, especially now. He's so self-destructive right now that he'd probably lie by saying he did lie. It's true. And he came back to save Wyatt. He's fought hard against the despair inside of him. But how much is one man supposed to be able to handle? He had everything that has gone wrong in his life in his head, plus everything we put on him. It broke him. We broke him." He couldn't even put it all on Piper. Piper delivered the final blow, but they all aided in Chris' breakdown. Every last one of them had treated Chris like dirt.

"I think Leo's right. I've never told anyone this, but I've been where Chris is. I thought about killing myself when I was a kid," Paige admitted.

"What?" Phoebe asked her sister in horror. She'd never known her sister was suicidal. She knew she'd been pretty troubled as a teenager, but then Phoebe wasn't much different herself. She never knew her sister had actually thought about hurting herself.

Paige nodded sadly. "My parents had just died and I blamed myself. I thought about it. But I had people around me to help me. I don't think Chris had that. He seems to be pretty alone. If it was that way for me, I might not be here right now."

"Well, Chris isn't gonna be alone anymore. I promised him I'd be here for him. Now, I don't think he believed me, but I intend to prove it. I'll be staying with you guys as long as Chris is and I'm going to help him through this," Leo said.

"It really affected you to find him like that, didn't it?" Paige asked.

"More than I can describe. For a second, it felt like it was gonna break me," Leo said. He couldn't explain it, but seeing Chris so close to death was debilitating. It was how he expected it would be like if Wyatt was in such a position.

"It can't be an easy thing to see," Phoebe said.

"No, it's not. Look, I gotta go. I just wanted to make sure everything would be safe for Chris to come here," Leo said.

"It will be," Paige promised.

Leo nodded and orbed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, Paige walked into the living room where her sisters were. "Okay, so I think the Manor is now completely safeguarded."

"And where exactly did you put my kitchen utensils?" Piper asked. She understood the need to keep them out of Chris' orbit, but she did need to know where they were so that she could use them when she needed them.

"In your room on the top shelf of your closet, which now has a dead bolt on it. I have the key to that right here," Paige said before pulling a single key out of her pocket and handing it to her sister.

"Potions?" Piper asked.

"Basement. That also has a deadbolt on it and I have that on my keychain," Paige said.

"I got all my stuff moved into your room so Chris can take mine," Phoebe said. It had been agreed that she and Paige would share a room so that Chris could have hers.

"Good. I think that means we're all ready," Paige said.

"Well, the house is ready anyway. She still wasn't ready for Chris to come to the house. She still felt a lot of guilt over her part in all this, and she was also still angry with Chris for his last stunt too. She was trying to get over it, but it wasn't easy.

At that moment, Leo orbed in with Chris.

"Hey, Chris," Paige said with an inviting smile.

Chris shifted uncomfortably. "Hi."

Piper, meanwhile, was staring at Chris' arms. His wrists were covered in bandages from where he'd cut himself. All she could do was picture how they looked before the bandages were applied. She'd done that. She'd caused him to cut himself in an attempt to take his own life. She knew that of course, but knowing it and seeing evidence of it were two different things.

Chris forced himself to look at Piper. "I know you don't want me here. Sorry."

Piper felt lower than dirt. Chris apologizing to her for this felt wrong. She'd done this to him, not the other way around. It was almost like he was apologizing for not dying and that wasn't right.

"Uh, why don't we get you settled in? What room is he taking?" Leo asked.

"Mine," Phoebe said.

"That's not necessary," Chris said. He didn't want them going out of their way for him, especially since he knew they were only doing it because they pitied him. They didn't care about him.

"It's no problem. Paige and I are gonna bunk for a while," Phoebe said.

"Come on, you should rest," Leo said before taking Chris by the shoulder and leading him towards the stairs.


	11. Chapter 11

Later that day, Leo was in the living room on the floor playing with Wyatt. They were playing with alphabet block. Leo stacked the blocks one on top of the other.

Once there were about four blocks on top of each other, Wyatt pushed them over and started giggling as the crashed to the floor.

Leo laughed. "Nice job, buddy."

"He's missed you," a voice said from behind Leo.

Leo turned around to see Piper by the stairs. "I've missed him too, even if it has just been a few days."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time with him now, even if you're not really here for him," Piper said. She couldn't help but be a little bit bitter that ultimately, it was Chris that brought Leo back home for a temporary period of time, not her or Wyatt, Chris. And, yeah, she knew she had no real right to be upset. It was her fault that Chris needed Leo's help. She just couldn't help it though.

Leo sighed and stood up. "Piper, please don't do this."

"I'm sorry, but I just find it ironic. Chris is the one that brought you back here, not your family. Chris who you hated not too long ago," Piper said.

Leo picked Wyatt up from the floor and put him in his playpen before turning back to Piper. "What do you want from me, Piper? You want me to abandon Chris? Say it's not my problem and let him self-destruct. I can't do that. That kid is in need of serious help and I'm the only one that seems to be on his side."

"That's not fair. I feel badly for Chris," Piper said.

"I don't think you do. I think you feel badly for yourself. I think you feel guilty because you know you nearly killed him," Leo said. He knew he sounded very harsh, but that was how he felt. That was how perceived her to feel. Piper expressed some guilt over the fact that she was partially responsible for Chris' suicide, but she still didn't really show any understanding for what he was going through. She still showed incredible dislike and bitterness whenever she spoke of him.

Piper flinched as if she'd been burned. Just hearing those words was hard for her to swallow. She knew she'd caused Chris' suicide, but hearing Leo accuse her of nearly killing him sounded so much worse. And then for him to accuse her of not really caring about Chris… "That's not true."

Unseen by Piper and Leo, Chris had just made it to the top of the stairs. He sat on the top step and began listening to the conversation.

"I think it is. I think you're struggling with what your actions helped cause, but I don't think you're actually sorry for them. I think you still blame Chris for everything that has gone wrong. I think you're very much still in denial about Wyatt and you want someone to hate for it. You've chosen Chris, even now after everything he's going through," Leo said.

Chris shuddered at his father's words. Even Leo seemed to know that Piper hated him. If there was even the slightest possibility that it wasn't true before, it was gone now.

"You've said and done things to him too, Leo. You tried to have his powers stripped a few months ago," Piper said defensively.

"I'm well aware of that. I know that messed up with Chris and that I'm partially responsible for what's happened. I realize that and I'm trying to make it right. You can't get past the desperate measures he took to try to save the future. You're holding it against him and treating him like he's a demon or warlock. And that's why I don't want him staying in this house. How is he supposed to get well if he's faced with your bitterness?" Leo asked

Chris snorted at his father's words. Like was even possible for him to, as Leo put it, get well. Too much in his life had gone wrong for that. There was nothing anyone could do to fix it.

"Hey, I didn't ask for him to be here. I don't want him here," Piper said somewhat loudly.

Chris felt a sharp pain hit his heart, just like it had that night when he'd decided to end it all. He wished could do that now. He wanted so much to just end everything right now and be free from this unbelievable pain.

Meanwhile, Little Wyatt looked up towards the stairs. "Cwis" he said before orbing out.

"Wyatt?" Leo asked somewhat panicked. He followed the toddler's orbs towards the stairs and he and Piper headed that way. They got to the bottom step just in time to see Wyatt orb onto Chris' lap.

Chris was surprised by his 'older' brother's presence in his arms. He wasn't expecting it. "Wyatt."

Wyatt shifted in Chris' arms and hugged him as tight as his little body could. He knew that Chris was very sad and he wanted to make him feel better.

Again, Chris was shocked by his brother's actions. He felt the love coming from Wyatt. Leo and the sisters didn't know this, but he was an empath. His power wasn't as strong as Wyatt's or even Phoebe's, but it was there. And he felt how much Wyatt loved and cared for him. It was almost like it was before everything went to hell. There had always been two people he knew he could count on no matter what. His mother and Wyatt. He'd lost his mother, but it seemed he hadn't lost Wyatt, not yet anyway.

Piper was about to go upstairs and get her baby, but Leo stopped her and went up himself. He sat down next to Chris. "You okay?"

Chris just shrugged. He couldn't really say he was alright, but he was better than he was a second ago.

"You heard everything, didn't you?" Leo asked sadly.

"Enough. Take him. I need to get out of here," Chris said. He had to get away from Wyatt. The comfort the little boy offered felt amazing, but he couldn't depend on it. It would only destroy him later."

Leo took Wyatt from Chris and watched as the younger man bolted down the hall. Leo then ruffled Chris' hair. "Good job, buddy. Good job.


	12. Chapter 12

After putting Wyatt down for his nap, Leo went in search of Chris. He wanted to make sure Chris was alright. He knew the conversation he'd overheard between him and Piper had to have caused a lot of pain for Chris and Leo wanted to make sure the kid didn't do anything stupid.

After checking Phoebe's room where Chris was staying, Leo headed for the attic. He thought Chris might go up there to look in the book, like he did almost every time he was at the Manor. Sure enough, when he got to the attic, he saw Chris there looking around in confusion. "Hey."

Chris turned to Leo. "Where's the book?"

"Uh, Paige put it somewhere," Leo said, intentionally not telling him where Paige had put it. Chris needed to focus on getting well without obsessing about Magic. Also, there was a possibility that Chris would try to use the book to find another way of hurting himself.

"Oh," Chris said. He didn't even bother asking Leo where Paige had put the book. He knew his father wasn't going to tell him. They thought he would use Magic to hurt himself. Chris couldn't say he was wrong either. He'd planned to try to find a spell in the book to send him back to the future so he could let Wyatt kill him.

"Look, Chris, I know that you're upset. What you heard downstairs…"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Chris said before walking away and going to sit down on the old couch a few feet away.

Leo immediately joined the whitelighter and sat down as well. "Chris, come on, just talk to me. I wanna help you."

Chris snorted. That was so ironic. The whole thing was ironic. His mother turning against him and his father stepping up to help him was the exact opposite of what he was used to. Years ago, he would've given anything to have his father stand by himself, but he never thought it would come at the expense of his mother hating him. Was that just the way it was going to be? Did he not deserve two caring parents? If that was the case, he preferred to have his father ignore him again and have his mother that. That he could handle. That he was used to. Besides, he still wasn't convinced Leo would stay like this. For all he knew, the man would turn on him tomorrow.

"I mean it. I wanna help you. Let me help," Leo practically begged.

"You won't help me the way I need help," Chris said.

"You mean by helping you commit suicide? You're right, I won't do that. You may think that suicide is your only way out, but it's not. I know you're in pain, but…"

"Don't talk to me about my pain! You haven't got a clue about the pain I've been through!" Chris said angrily.

"Well, then why don't you tell me?" Leo asked.

Chris huffed. He should've known. Leo was trying to get him to spill about the future and Wyatt. Well, that wasn't going to happen. "You can't trick me into talking about the future, Leo."

"I'm not trying to. This isn't an attempt to get info about Wyatt. I'm asking you about you. I'm asking you to tell me what you've been through because I think it'll help you in the long run," Leo said.

"Well, then you don't know what you're talking about. Talking about how crumby my life has been isn't going to make anything better," Chris said.

"It could. Talking does help people, Chris. It won't fix everything all at once, but it might just make you feel better," Leo said.

"Really? You think me telling you that my father basically ignored me my entire childhood is going to help? That he only cared about my brother?" Chris asked.

Leo curled his hands into fists. He was becoming very angry at Chris' father. He'd known from Chris' mumbles in the hospital that he didn't have the best parents, but to hear that the kid's father had actually cast him aside in favor of his brother made him furious. Chris deserved better than that. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be treated like that.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Piper would disagree with you," Chis said with pain in his voice.

Leo wanted to say that wasn't true, but he couldn't. Piper had been behaving absolutely appallingly when it came to Chris, even after his suicide attempt. He couldn't defend her and he wouldn't.

"I never needed him anyway. I had my mother. She was always there for me and she always loved me," Chris said.

Leo frowned. That wasn't what Chris had said at the hospital. When he was talking in his sleep, he didn't seem to think his mother loved him.

"At least I used to think so. But I don't think so anymore. I think she just stuck by me because she felt she had to," Chris said.

"Why? What changed to make you think that?" Leo asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter. I'm just glad I know now. And hey, maybe she won't have to put up with me this time," Chris said. It actually just occurred to him. He hadn't been conceived yet. There was still time to free himself and his family. It wouldn't even be that hard since his parents weren't together. All he had to do was wait and he would just disappear.

Alarm bells began to go off in Leo's head as the younger man's words sunk in. "Chris, have you been born yet."

"I think I'm going to go downstairs. I'm tired," was all Chris said before getting up and walking away, leaving his father startled and worried.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You want me to find Chris' parents?" Paige asked. Leo had shown up at her room a few minutes earlier saying he needed to find Chris' parents.

"Yeah. I think Chris is gearing up for his next suicide attempt. I think he's planning to sabotage his own existence," Leo said. That was his take on what Chris had said and the kid hadn't tried to deny it.

Paige swore under her breath.

"Yeah, so you see why I have to find them," Leo said.

"And what are you going to say, Leo. 'Hi, I know your son from the future. You guys are gonna have to start getting busy to conceive him.' Yeah that would go over well," Paige said sarcastically.

"I don't care. Chris' life is in danger here. I have to stop him from complete destruction. Please help me. Help me save Chris' life," Leo pleaded.

"This has personal gain written all over it," Paige said.

"I don't care," Leo said once more.

"Neither do I, but you are an elder now and I felt I had to say it. Okay, I'll write a spell and hope there's no backfire," Paige said.

"Thank you," Leo said appreciatively.

Paige nodded and went to get a pen and paper so she could start writing her spell.


	13. Chapter 13

Paige put the finishing touches on her spell. "Alright, I think we're ready."

Leo stood up from the chair he was sitting on across the room. "So this is going to find Chris' parents?"

"It should. I made sure the spell was very specific. You ready?"

Leo was slightly hesitant. He wasn't sure leaving Chris alone in the Manor with Piper and Phoebe was a good idea, however, this was the only way he could protect him long term, so he had to do it. "Yeah, let's do it."

Paige grabbed his hand and read the spell aloud. Soon, they were both surrounding by white lights. Seconds later, they materialized on the Golden Gate Bridge, only it didn't look like it used to. Everything around them looked dark and dreary.

"Oh my God," Leo said in horror.

"There are no cars," Paige said as she looked down below them at the empty highway. "Okay, I think it's safe to say that something went wrong.

Just then, they both saw orbs begin to fill the area right in front of them. They were then face to face with… Leo.

"Oh my God! It's you. Leo?" Paige called out to the other version of her brother-in-law.

The other Leo didn't speak or acknowledge their presence at all. It was like he couldn't see them.

"I don't think he can see us," Leo said as he stared at himself in wonderment.

"How is this possible? How can we be staring at you right now?" Paige asked.

"I think we're in Chris' future," Leo said. It was the only thing that made sense with his apparent double and the horrible way everyone looked.

Paige stared at her brother-in-law in shock. "The future? The spell wasn't supposed to take us to the future."

Leo nodded. "Obviously it backfired."

"Well, how do we get back?" Paige asked.

"We don't, not until we do what we came here to do," Leo said.

"I know you're there. I can feel you," the other Leo said.

"Whoa, I thought you said he didn't know we were here," Paige said.

Just then, dark orbs began to fill the area behind the other Leo. Soon a man with long blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in all black materialized.

"A dark lighter. You're keeping company with dark lighters?" Paige asked Leo.

"Why are you here?" the other Leo asked.

"What's the matter? Not happy to see me?" the young man asked with a sinister grin.

The other Leo glared at him. "What do you want?"

The man's grin faded. "Something's wrong. I can feel his pain."

"I wasn't aware you could feel much of anything anymore," the other Leo said, earning a glare from the younger man. "I feel it too."

"Who do you think they're talking about?" Paige said.

"Chris," Leo said. It was a reasonable assumption. The entire spell was about Chris. It was logical to think that the topic of this discussion was about him.

"How would you be able to feel Chris all the way in the future?" Paige said.

"I don't know," Leo said honestly. Not even Elders could sense witches from distant futures. He could feel Piper and Wyatt, even now, but they were his family. Those bonds transcended everything else. To be able to feel Chris so far away, his future self would've had to have formed a very strong done with him.

"Really? Last time I checked, you couldn't feel anything when it came to him. You've never been able to read him," the man said.

"You're wrong. I feel him. I've always felt him," the other Leo said quietly.

"The way he sounds… It's like Chris really means a lot to him," Paige said. It was weird because up until recently, Leo mistrusted Chris to the very end.

"Could've fooled me," the evil blond man said.

"Why don't you tell me why you came here? It wasn't to have a chat," Future Leo said.

"I want you to send me to the past to get Chris. We both know you can do it. You sent the Charmed Ones to the future once," Wyatt said.

"No," was all Future Leo said.

"Excuse me?" he asked in a deadly tone.

"You heard me. I don't help Evil. I won't hurt you. We both know I could never bring myself to," the other Leo said.

"Why the hell not? He's evil," Paige said.

"You won't hurt me because you don't have the power."

"But I won't aid you either," Future Leo continued as if the man in front of him never interrupted.

"You don't get it. Neither does Chris."

"I'm not going to listen to more talk about your good and evil views. If that's where you're going, you might as well stop now," Future Leo said.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Paige wondered.

"I think I know," Leo said. He hoped he was wrong, but he was pretty sure he knew who he was looking at. There was only one reason his future self would refuse to even try to vanquish the demon in front of him.

"You know, I could've killed you a million times by now. The only reason I let you live was because I thought you might be useful one day. You're proving me wrong."

"Do whatever you want, Wyatt. I won't help you hurt Chris," Future Leo said firmly.

Leo shut his eyes sadly. His suspicions were just confirmed. This was his son and he was evil. He knew the last part of course, but knowing something and seeing it with your own eyes were two different things.

"Wyatt? No, it can't be," Paige said in disbelief. This couldn't be here innocent little nephew. Okay, so she knew from Chris that he wasn't so innocent in the future, but he couldn't be this person who she'd have vanquished if she saw him.

"He's already hurting! I can feel it!" Wyatt yelled.

"So can I, but bringing him back here isn't going to change that. It'll only make it worse. I know you. There may be a small part of you in there is that still cares about Chris, but it is nothing compared to the rest of you who will just use whatever pain he's going through to manipulate him, maybe even cause him more pain. I won't let that happen," Future Leo said.

"Since when do you care about what happens to Chris?" Wyatt snarled.

Guilt displayed on Future Leo's face. "I screwed up. I thought there would always be time to fix things with him, that I'd always get another chance to make it right. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about him. I have always and will always love your brother."

Leo felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. At first, the words didn't compute. It was like it was some kind of foreign language that he couldn't understand. Then the words clicked in and filled him with more pain and regret than he'd ever felt in his life. "Chris, the young man he was at least partially responsible for breaking, was his son.


	14. Chapter 14

Leo didn't have much time to contemplate the revelation about Chris because he and Paige were transported back to her room right afterwards.

Paige looked around. "We're back."

"T…the spell played itself out. We learned what we needed to learn," Leo said before collapsing onto Paige's bed. He couldn't believe it. Chris was his son. He was the dad Chris talked about never being there for him. He'd been so angry when he heard that. He blamed Chris' father in part for how broken he was. He had no idea that it was himself he hated.

"Leo, are you okay?" Paige asked. She was shocked by what they'd just learned as well. Chris was her nephew. He was Piper and Leo's son. Oh God. Piper had exiled her own son from the house. She'd threatened his life and called him evil. No wonder he'd tried to kill himself. Who wouldn't? If you didn't even have your mother to turn to, what was the point? That had to be what he was thinking. Piper was never going to forgive herself for this, and she wasn't sure Leo would either.

"M…my son tried to kill himself because of me. Nothing about that is okay," Leo said. He put his head in his hands and began to cry. He kept seeing Chris back on the floor at the club bleeding to death. He'd put him there, he and Piper did. They'd done this to their boy. They'd pushed him to the point where he thought death was his only salvation.

Paige sat down next to Leo and put a hand on his shoulder. "Leo, you said it yourself. Chris did what he did for a lot of reasons."

Leo breathed heavily for a few moments. "I said that because I thought though his family and us were not one in the same. Now I know that Piper and I are the sole reason Chris tried to commit suicide. We are responsible, no one else.

Paige wanted to tell Leo that he was wrong. She wanted to say that he wasn't responsible for what happened to Chris. But she couldn't. She couldn't say it any more than Leo could say it Piper just the other day. The fact was they were all responsible.

"You know, Chris let a few things slip about his parents. He said his dad was never around when he needed him. That he loved his brother more than him. He was talking about me. I basically abandoned my own son. I cast the first stone that led us to where we are now," Leo said guiltily.

"Leo, that hasn't happened yet," Paige said.

"It doesn't matter," Leo said before getting up and crossing the room.

"Of course it matters. You can't blame yourself for something that you haven't even done yet," Paige said.

Leo turned back to her. "Okay, fine. How about what I have done? Can I blame myself for all of that? Can I blame myself for beating my own son to a pulp? Can I blame myself for threating to have his wings clipped or have him recycled? Can I blame myself for looking him straight in the eye and saying he wasn't family. I think I can. And don't say not to blame myself because I didn't know because that's not an excuse."

"You're right. It's not an excuse. It's not an excuse. It's not an excuse for any of us. We all treated Chris terribly. We all aided in his suicide attempt," Paige said. It filled her with more pain and regret than she'd ever felt in her life, but she knew that she too played a part in her nephew's decision to kill himself.

"But I'm his father. I'm supposed to protect him and I nearly killed him. I nearly killed my own son," Leo said.

"No, Leo. You saved your son's life! I can't say that you didn't aid in Chris' suicide attempt because you did, we all did, but you saved him. I believe that something inside you knew something was wrong and that's why you went to the club. You saved your son that night. You got him help. And you didn't abandon him afterwards. You stood by his side. You gave him a reason to live," Paige said.

"No, I didn't. He still wants to kill himself, Paige. That was the whole point of the spell that took us to the future. To try to stop him from trying again," Leo said.

"Yes, right now, Chris still wants to die, but you made the first step. You stood by your son's side when he didn't expect you too. True, it hasn't done anything yet, but eventually it will. Down the road, he's going to remember that you were by his side. He's going to remember that you promised to help him and you kept that promise. That just might save him," Paige said.

"You really think that?" Leo asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I do. Chris may be angry with you and he's been more than a little hurt by you, but he loves you deep down, and as long as you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to be the first person he starts to trust. He needs you," Paige said. She got the feeling that Chris was going to need Leo even more than he did Piper. Chris' relationship with Piper was way too broken right now for her to help him, but Leo had already started trying to repair the damage he'd done. Leo had the ability to reach Chris.

Leo was quiet for a few moments as he thought about what Paige was saying. "You're right. Chris needs me. He needs me to be the father my future self never was to him. He needs to know that for once, he comes first."

"Good. I'm glad to hear you say that, not that I expected anything less," Paige said with a slight smile.

"That means I have to do something that I don't necessarily want to," Leo continued. He knew what he had to do. Piper would probably never forgive him when she found out everything, but if he didn't do it and something happened to Chris, he would never forgive her or himself.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked nervously. No part of her liked the way her brother-in-law said that. She got the feeling nobody was gonna like what Leo was about to do.

Leo looked right at her and spoke in the most determined voice he had. "I'm taking Chris away."


	15. Chapter 15

Paige stared at Leo in shock. Of all the things she expected him to do, declaring that he was taking Chris out of the Manor wasn't one of them. "Leo, do you know what you just said?"

"I know exactly what I said. I'm taking my son out of this house," Leo said in determination. He knew no one was going to be happy about this, least of all Piper when she found out exactly who Chris was, but he meant it when he said he was putting Chris first. Chris was his son and he had to protect him, even if that meant protecting him from his own mother.

"Okay, but Chris isn't just your son. He's Piper's too," Paige said.

"She doesn't know that and I'm not going to tell her. I tell her, she's going to drown in guilt and then that guilt will ultimately be laid on Chris. I won't allow that," Leo said firmly. He knew Piper wouldn't do it on purpose, but the guilt would be crushing. He knew that because he felt it himself. But because she was the direct cause of Chris' suicide attempt, she wouldn't be able to contain it. Chris would eventually sense it and it would cause him more pain than her indifference.

"You really think you're gonna be able to keep it from her?" Paige asked. She hoped that wasn't his thinking. She couldn't keep this from her sister. While she didn't like the way Piper had been acting as far as Chris was concerned, she was still her sister and keeping the truth from her felt like a betrayal.

"No, I don't, and I don't expect you to either. All I'm asking is for you to wait for me to get Chris out of the house," Leo said.

"Are you hearing yourself? You're talking about taking Piper's son away," Paige said.

Leo sighed. "Paige, do you know what it was like to orb into the club and find Chris bleeding to death on the floor? I felt like my insides were being ripped apart. I felt this sharp pain in my heart."

Paige looked down sadly. It was horrible what had happened to Chris, what he felt he was forced to do. It had unnerved her since she found out about it, but now that she knew he was her nephew, it positively terrified her.

"I can't let that happen again, do you understand? I won't survive the death of my son. It will kill me. So if keeping my son safe means I have to take him away from Piper for a little while, so be it," Leo said. Hell, he'd take Chris from her permanently if that was what it took. He didn't think that would be necessary though. Piper was a good mother. She was a good person. She just had to realize that the things she said and did had severe consequences sometimes.

"I get it, Leo. I get that Chris is in real trouble and something has to be done for him, but this just seems really extreme," Paige said.

"What Chris did is extreme and so is what was done to him," Leo said.

"Okay, but wouldn't it be better you and Piper to work together to help Chris?" Paige asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. It's not a risk I can take. I can't trust Piper with Chris. That's just a fact. I mean, I know she won't attack him when she finds out the truth. I know she wouldn't knowingly hurt her own son, but I do think that her reaction will be detrimental to Chris' recovery. I don't want her around him right now," Leo said. He never thought that he'd come to the point where he wouldn't trust Piper or he would take her child away, but he was there.

Paige sighed. She didn't like it, but she did see Leo's point. He had to do what he thought was necessary to protect his son, and Piper had proved recently that maybe she shouldn't be trusted with Chris. It was really extreme, but maybe Leo was right. Maybe it was best for Chris to be far away from Piper. "Where will you take him?"

"I have a place in mind. It's somewhere I think he'll really have a chance to heal and he'll be far away from any stress," Leo said.

"What about the Elders? They said Chris had to stay here," Paige reminded him.

"I don't care about the Elders. They don't dictate how I help my son," Leo said firmly. He usually had the utmost respect for the other Elders, but right now, he was willing to take on all of them if it meant protecting Chris. They were not going to interfere and they were not taking Chris' powers. He wouldn't allow it.

"When will you go?" Paige asked.

"Right after I say goodbye to Wyatt."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Leo was standing in the nursery with Wyatt in his arms. "So Daddy has to go away for a little while. I wish I didn't have to go, but right now Chris needs me."

"Cwis," Wyatt said.

"Yeah, that's right. Chris is hurting a lot right now. I know you sense it too. That's why you went to him, to try to help him. You were a good boy doing that for him. I promise, somehow I'm going to make sure you stay a good boy. But right now, I have to help your brother. He needs me more than you do," Leo said.

Unknown to Leo, Chris arrived in the doorway at that moment.

"I'll come back as soon as I can, I promise, but it could be a while. I'll miss you," Leo said before kissing the boy's head.

"You're leaving?" Chris asked.

A startled Leo turned to see his other son. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear you say you're leaving," Chris said with a glare. He should've known this would happen. Actually, he did know. He knew Leo's promise to stay and help him was nothing more than another empty promise. He thought it would be a little while longer before he broke it though.

Leo carefully put Wyatt back in his crib and turned his attention back to his youngest son. Looking at him now, it was hard to believe he didn't know Chris was his before. He had his eyes and nearly everything else of Piper's. His parentage was obvious. "It's true, I am leaving, but you're coming with me."

That took Chris by surprise. "What?"

"We're leaving the Manor. It isn't fair to have here when the reason for your suicide attempt is also here. I was gonna say goodbye to Wyatt and come and get you," Leo said.

"You're gonna leave your son for me?" Chris asked in shock. That wasn't something he was expecting. Leo was putting him before Wyatt. That had never, ever happened before. His place in Leo's list of priorities had always been clear. It was Wyatt, his mother, his aunts, everyone else in the world, and then him. This was just plain weird.

Leo wanted to tell Chris that he was his son too, but he knew the younger man wasn't ready for that. He would tell him he knew when Chris was ready to hear it. "He doesn't need me right now. You do."

"But you said I had to stay. You said the Elder's had insisted on it," Chris said.

"They did, but I don't care. Being in this house isn't going to help you any, so we're leaving. Okay?" Leo asked.

"Um, okay," Chris said. He wasn't going to argue. He didn't want to stay in a house with his mother when he knew she hated him, so he would go without a fuss.

Leo turned back to Wyatt. "I love you, Wyatt," he said before going over to Chris. "Okay, let's go."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to Piper too?" Chris asked.

"No," was all Leo said before putting a hand on his son's shoulder and orbing them both out.


	16. Chapter 16

Chris took a look at his surroundings when he and Leo materialized after orbing. It was an old fashioned house. It had furniture from like the nineteen-forties and a few pictures on the tables and mantle that were in black and white. One was of Leo and a man that looked much older than him. "Was this your house?"

"Yes. I grew up here when I was a kid. I got ahold of it just after my father died. I wasn't supposed to, but I just couldn't let it go," Leo said.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Chris wondered.

"It was the only place I could think of. I didn't really have a lot of options. Plus, this place is really peaceful. I didn't think so when I was a kid. All I could think was that it was away from everything in the world because it's deep inside the woods, but now I appreciate that. No one bothers you. It's a place you can just go to, to relax and try to escape your life," Leo said.

"So you mean it's a place for someone like me?" Chris asked before going over to the old couch and sitting down.

Leo went over and sat next to his son. "Well, it's an escape you wanted, right. You tried to kill yourself so you could escape your life and the pain that came with it. This helps you do at least part of that for a while. The difference is that this way you can go back when you're ready.

"Well, maybe I don't wanna go back," Chris said. He really didn't. Nothing in his life was worth going back to. The life he had in the future sucked. All he had there was a brother who would torture and kill him if he ever got his hands on him. And the life he had here was even worse if you could believe that. It was worse because his mother was around constantly and she hated his guts. What kind of person would wanna live in a world where his mother hated him?

"I know you don't want to now, but that could change one day. But it can't change if you're dead, can it? You have options now, Chris. You don't if you kill yourself," Leo emphasized. He was going to do everything in his power to make Chris believe that taking his own life wasn't the answer. He knew it probably wouldn't work at first, but he hoped that if he tried hard enough, he could get through.

Chris laughed humorlessly. "And what options do I have, Leo? You don't even know me. You don't know what my life was like. So who are you to say what I options I do or don't have?"

Leo was quiet for a few minutes as he took in Chris' words. Then finally, he spoke. "You're right. I don't know what your life was like. I don't know what it was like for you to grow up with a brother who always seemed to be better than you in the eyes of people you loved or what it was like to have everyone you held dear taken from you."

"I never told you that. I never said I lost my family," Chris said. He'd told Piper once that he'd never really had a chance to know his family, even though that was a lie to get her motivated to stop the Titans, but he'd never said anything like that to Leo.

"You didn't have to. It's clear that you have no one. If I'd been paying attention, it would've been clear since you got here," Leo said. He really should've known that Chris had no one. He didn't count his future self or Wyatt. They hadn't been there for Chris. All either of them had done was hurt Chris. They weren't his family, not that version of them anyway. Leo would make sure they would be this time around. He would not fail Chris or Wyatt this time around.

"Seeing that would've required you to see me as something other than a nuisance that came here to disrupt your family," Chris said bitterly.

"You're right. I wanted someone to blame for destroying my marriage and since it was your idea to make the Charmed Ones Goddesses, it was easy to blame you. It wasn't fair. You were just trying to save the future," Leo said. Even if Chris had done what he did to maneuver himself into the position of the Charmed Ones whitelighter, which Leo did believe he did, he had only done it to protect Wyatt and save the future. He shouldn't have been crucified for that the way he was.

"Whatever. So what now?" Chris asked.

"I told you. We're gonna stay here. I think it'll be good for you. You can decompress without any stress or anyone coming at you," Leo said.

"You mean like Piper," Chris said with hurt laced in his voice. He couldn't help it. He loved his mother so much and she hated him. It was the worst feeling in the world. "How do you figure that will work though? Once the Elders find out we left the Manor, they'll call for you, or they'll just show up."

Leo shook his head and stood up. "No they won't because I'm going to block us from them." He would never have been able to do something like that as a whitelighter, but as an Elder, he could hide himself and anyone else from the Elders.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Chris asked. He just didn't understand this. He didn't understand why Leo was working so hard for him. He'd left Piper and Wyatt and was even going against the Elders for him? Why? He never would've done anything like this in the future or even just a few weeks ago.

Leo wanted to say it was because he was his father and it was his job to help and protect him, but he wouldn't do that. Chris was not ready to deal with Leo knowing the nature of their relationship. He needed time to heal before that. "Because you need help. You need someone in your corner. Maybe if you have somebody, your life will get better."

After a minute, Leo began putting up the blocks. It took a good ten minutes because he needed to make sure they'd be strong enough to keep the Elders and the sisters out. That took a little extra work.

Once he was finished, Leo turned back to Chris who was now laying down on the couch and had fallen asleep. He went over and knelt down next to the younger man. "It's gonna be okay, son. I promise everything will be okay."


	17. Chapter 17

Paige stayed in her room for the remainder of the day. She was avoiding Piper like the plague. Telling her sister that the whitelighter they'd driven to suicide was actually her son was not one of Paige's aspirations. Also, she'd promised Leo not to tell Piper for at least a few hours. So she decided to wait until Piper at least realized Leo and Chris were gone.

Just then, Piper's voice called out throughout the house. "Leo!"

Paige cringed. It looked like time was finally up. Piper was looking for Leo and she was going to notice when he didn't answer.

"Leo, would you get Wyatt and bring him down for dinner?" Piper called again.

Paige sighed and stood up. There was no putting it off any longer. She had to tell Piper something. She went downstairs and into the kitchen where she found both her sisters.

"Hey. Where have you been? We haven't seen you all day," Piper said.

"Uh, I just needed some time to myself, so I decided to lay down upstairs for a while," Paige said.

"Oh, well, have you seen Leo. I just called for him and asked him to get Wyatt, but he didn't answer," Piper said.

Paige took a deep breath. "Leo's not here."

Piper frowned slightly. "What do you mean he's not here? Did he need to go meet with the Elders or something?"

"Yeah, I thought he wanted to stay for Chris," Phoebe added in confusion.

"Chris isn't here either. Leo took him out of the Manor," Paige said.

"What? What about the Elders?" Phoebe asked. The Elders had made it clear that Chris had to stay at the Manor and that if he didn't, his and Piper's powers might both be taken away.

"I don't think Leo cares about the Elders right now," Paige said. Actually, she knew he didn't. Leo had made it perfectly clear that he didn't give a damn what the Elders said. He was going to protect his son no matter what.

"Well, what about Piper? Does he care about her? The Elders said that they would take Piper's powers if Chris doesn't stay here and the way you're saying this makes it seem like they're not coming back," Phoebe said.

"He's not anytime soon, and this is not about anyone's powers. This is about more than just some magical powers. A young man's life is on the line here, Phoebe. Can you really not see that?" Paige asked. She couldn't believe her sister's callousness. How could Phoebe have absolutely no compassion for someone who tried to commit suicide?

"I get that, Paige. I'm sorry for what Chris is going through, but we have to think about the bigger picture here. If Piper loses her powers, we're all screwed. If we're attacked, we won't have the Power of Three to stop it, nor will we have Piper's powers, which come in handy. And why is Leo doing this now? He was fine with the arrangement when he brought Chris here," Phoebe said.

"It might have something to do with the fight Leo and I had earlier, one that Chris overheard," Piper said. She'd seen Chris' face when she and Leo found him on top of the stairs and Wyatt orbed to him. His eyes were filled with sadness and pain. He looked almost like he did the night he'd tried to kill himself.

"You guys fought? What happened?" Phoebe wondered.

"Uh, we just got into it. I resented the fact that it took Chris to finally bring Leo home, even if it was just temporary. Then he accused me of not really feeling badly for the way I treated Chris," Piper said.

"Was he wrong?" Paige asked as gently as possible.

Piper sighed. "I guess to a point. I shouldn't have threatened him and I shouldn't have insinuated that he was evil, but I had a right to be angry at him for what he did. How am I supposed to trust someone who lies to me and keeps secrets at every turn? Someone who scams behind my back? I am sorry for what my actions helped to cause, more than you can possibly imagine. If I had known he was suicidal, I would've handled it differently. But again, I don't think I'm wrong to be upset."

"So you're sorry that he tried to hurt himself and that you're the reason, but you're not really sorry for the actions themselves. You said if you had known what would happen, you would've handled it differently. That stands to reason that you're okay with your actions, just not the result," Paige said unhappily.

"What do you want me to say, Paige? That I'm wrong? That it's okay for him to lie to us? He put Wyatt in danger! He could've gotten my son killed!" Piper said angrily.

"Piper, the Order was already after Wyatt. Chris didn't send them. He was only trying to protect Wyatt, from that threat and every other one. Yes, his conclusion that Wyatt should be bound was misguided, but it wasn't done out of malice. He was trying to protect him and the world. Look, I don't think this is really about Chris lying. I think this is about what he said about Wyatt. You're not ready to accept it," Paige said.

"Because she doesn't believe it's true, and you know what, neither do I. All we have is Chris' word and he has lied way too many times," Phoebe said.

"Well, you have my word now too, and Leo's. Chris was telling the truth," Paige said.

"Y...you can't know that for sure," Piper stuttered.

"Yes, I can. Leo was really worried about Chris. He was afraid Chris would try again, only this time by destroying his conception. So Leo asked me to write a spell to help him help Chris. It worked, though not the way we expected," Paige said.

"You cast a spell without telling us?!" Piper asked angrily.

"Leo asked me not to. And rather than scream at me, would you like to hear what we found out?" Paige asked

They both nodded.

Paige took a deep breath. "The spell took us to the future. We couldn't interact with anyone, but we could view it. We encountered Future Leo and Wyatt on the bridge."

"You saw Wyatt? What was he like? What did he look like?" Piper asked curious about what her son would be like as an adult.

"He looked a lot like Leo, but at the same time he was nothing like him. He appeared in dark orbs, like a dark lighter would, and he was dressed in all black. He just had this darkness about him. I didn't need anyone to tell me he was evil, but Future Leo said it anyway," Paige told her sister.

Piper flinched at her sister's words. It was one thing to deny it when it came from the whitelighter that she'd barely known said it, especially after the lies and schemes. She could believe Chris was lying, even after his suicide attempt. She could find a way to believe he was lying. But it was much harder to cling to that when her own sister said it after seeing it herself.

"There must be some sort of explanation. You must have misinterpreted something," Phoebe said.

"How do I misinterpret black orbs? Chris told the truth. We vilified him for telling the truth and it nearly cost him his life. And it gets worse," Paige said sadly.

"How does it get worse than my son being evil?" Piper asked

This was it. She now had to tell her sister that the young man she'd driven over the edge was her own son. A part of her felt bad for the amount of pain that would undoubtedly cause, but at the same time, she felt her sister deserved it. What she did to Chris was terrible. They all had been horrible to him, but Piper was worse, mainly because she was his mother. She needed to feel pain for hurting Chris. "Chris' suicide makes it worse, as does what drove him to it. Chris didn't try to commit suicide just because some stranger in the past said some cruel things to him. He did it because his mother turned her back on him. Piper, Chris is your son."


	18. Chapter 18

The Manor was so quiet that you could literally hear a pin drop. Paige's revelation had left both her sisters stunned speechless for a good five minutes. Piper was the most stunned. After all, it was her that Paige was saying was Chris' mother.

Piper replayed everything that had happened before and after Chris' suicide attempt. She remembered kicking him out of the house. She remembered him not heeding her warning. She'd been so angry. She'd told him she hated him and even threatened to take his life. She remembered the look on his face when she'd done those things. He'd looked so broken, both that night and just today when he'd overheard her conversation with Leo. Now Paige was saying he was her son. If that was true then…

Piper shook her head. No. She wouldn't even allow herself to finish that thought. It wasn't possible. There was no way she'd do that to her own son. He couldn't be her son. She would know if he was and she wouldn't have treated him like that. "No. It's not true."

Paige sighed. She wasn't surprised that Piper had this reaction. She was in denial. She didn't want to accept the part she played in her own son's suicide. But she had to. Piper needed to accept responsibility for what she'd done to Chris, just like Leo had. They all had to accept the parts they played. "Yes, Piper."

"No! I don't know what you think you saw, but it's not true. Chris is not my son!" Piper yelled. She could not and would not accept this. Dealing with the guilt she already had was hard enough. If he was her son, the guilt would be a billion times worse and it should be. But he wasn't. Chris wasn't hers. Paige was wrong.

"Piper's right. This is probably just some kind of trick," Phoebe said.

"Trick set up by who?" Paige asked.

"Chris maybe. We all know he's capable of messing with us. That last stunt with Wyatt proves that," Phoebe said. She couldn't let herself believe this either. The idea of them causing one of their own so much pain that he actually would consider hurting himself just wasn't something she was prepared to face. No, Chris had to have done something.

"You've lost your mind. First of all, Chris didn't know about the spell or what it would do. Hell, I didn't even know what it would do. And second, what exactly would it achieve?" Paige asked. She personally thought her sisters had gone insane. She could almost understand why they would try to deny the truth, but blaming Chris for it was nuts. Chris had no reason to want them to think he was Piper and Leo's son.

"Payback. Maybe he wants us to feel guilty," Phoebe said.

Paige shook her head in anger and disbelief. She was actually really glad now that Leo took Chris. She didn't even wanna think about what it would've done to Chris to hear these things. The poor kid was already on the brink. The last thing he needed was to go through another attack. "The only thing Chris wants right now is to die. Do either of you even get that? Piper, your son spends his free time thinking of ways to kill himself!"

"Stop!" Piper yelled.

"No. No, you have to accept this or you're going to lose your son forever. I only hope it won't be to death. Either way though, you'll lose him if you don't accept the truth. Leo won't bring him back until he's sure Chris is safe around you. And if he thinks for one second that this could end up repeating with the Chris that has yet to exist, he will take him from you too," Paige said.

"Okay, Chris is not Piper's son, but even if he were, Leo would never take him away from her," Phoebe said. Leo loved Piper. He would never take her child from her.

"No? You don't think Leo would remove his son from an environment that could endanger his life. He's already taken Chris now because he's worried about the effects that Chris being here could cause. He has accepted the truth. He knows why Chris did what he did and he's not taking the chance that it could happen again. Leo may love Piper, but I think he loves his son more," Paige said. She knew for a fact that Leo would take Chris from Piper indefinitely if had to. He was not going to allow something like this to happen again, not with this Chris and not with the one that had yet to be conceived.

"Stop calling him that!" Piper said angrily. The more Paige called Chris her son, the more she had to consider that he might be and she couldn't do that. She couldn't believe he was her son because it would destroy her.

Paige looked at her oldest sister and sighed. "I know you don't want to accept this. Because you know that when you do, the pain will be worse than anything you've ever felt before. You already feel guilty knowing that you played a part in someone's suicide. Knowing that that person is your own son would probably make you wanna kill yourself. But you can't keep denying this. You can't run from it. Chris is your son," Paige said. She said the last part slowly so that it would sink in.

"H…he c…can't be," Piper said in a cracked voice. She felt her hands shake. Actually, she felt her entire body shake. Because the more Paige spoke, the more she believed her. She remembered how Chris looked that night. It never made sense before for him to be that broken because of what she said to him. It didn't make sense for him to hurt himself because of her, a practical stranger. Unless she wasn't a stranger.

Piper then thought about Chris' personality and his physical appearance. Chris looked like her and Leo. He had her hair color and Leo's green eyes, and his personality reminded her of her sister, Prue. He certainly had her determination and work ethic. Nothing was more important to either of them than the job. She couldn't deny it anymore. Chris was her son.

With that final thought, a sharp pain hit Piper's heart and radiated throughout her entire body. Chris was her son. She'd threatened to murder her own son. True, she hadn't really intended to blow him up, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she threatened to hurt him. Hell, she had hurt him. She might as well have blown him up that day. The outcome was the same. He still nearly died. The only difference was that instead of her physically trying to kill him, her words had driven him to do it himself. In many ways it was worse. She'd caused her own son so much pain that he thought his only recourse was to leave this world.

Piper collapsed to the ground as the severity of her actions finally hit her. She'd always been afraid that she would fail as a parent. Since the day Wyatt was born, she wondered if she would make a mistake and scar her child for life. Well, she was right, she did fail as a parent. Only it was worse than what she imagined. She didn't fail her child by making a bad decision raising him. She failed him by intentionally trying to hurt him. She was no better than those parents you saw on the news who beat their children to death. It didn't matter that she didn't know he was hers. She had still harmed her own child.

"Piper?" Phoebe asked unsure.

"M…my son. I hurt my own son.

Piper went over and sat down on the floor next to her sister. She didn't say or do anything else. She didn't comfort her or try to tell her it wasn't her fault. She couldn't do that because it was her fault. But that didn't mean she couldn't sit there and try to be there for her.

Piper cried freely. She cried as she thought about her son and replayed over and over again what she had done to him. As his mother, she was supposed to make sure Chris felt safe and loved. Instead, she was the reason he didn't feel either of those things. That was something she'd have to live with until the day she died. She would never forgive herself for it, ever.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning, Leo was in the kitchen making breakfast. He'd gone out early and gotten a few supplies. Of course that was after making sure Chris was high on his radar so that he would know if Chris tried to leave the house or hurt himself."

Leo was cracking a bunch of eggs into a bowl when Chris came downstairs. "How'd I end up in a bedroom?"

"Hey, good morning. I orbed you last night. You fell asleep on the couch."

Chris looked at his father and at the food he was attempting to cook nervously. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making us breakfast," Leo said as if it were obvious.

Chris heard the loud sizzling of a pan on the stove and made a beeline towards it. He immediately turned the stove down. "Dude, you can't have bacon on this high and not watch it!"

"Piper does it all the time," Leo said. He remembered countless times when his wife would turn her back to the stove while she was cooking breakfast.

"No, she keeps it on low. Bacon cooks fast," Chris said as he started flipping the bacon.

"You know how to cook?" Leo asked. His son must have picked up his mother's culinary skills. Piper would be thrilled when she found out. Well, she would if she stopped blaming Chris for everything.

"Better than you," Chris said. Leo was a horrible cook. Chris remembered the one time Leo tried to cook for them. It was one of his fondest memories of the man. The Elder had been gone for several weeks and decided to try to make it up to them by cooking breakfast. Chris and Wyatt had come down to see him attempting it. Everything had ended up so burnt that it was inedible. His mother had yelled for hours.

Once Chris was done turning the bacon, he went over to Leo and took the bowl of eggs. He added some milk and pepper before he began scrambling them.

Leo went and pulled out another pan from one of the bottom cabinets. "How'd you learn to cook?" He knew of course, but he was hoping to get Chris to open up a little.

"My mom. She was a chef," Chris said.

"Oh. She must have been happy you picked up her talent," Leo said.

"Ecstatic. Everyone else can barely make toast," Chris said.

"Your brother can't cook?" Leo asked.

Chris laughed at the idea of Wyatt cooking. "Yeah, right. Wy… My brother can't cook to save his life." He knew it shouldn't have, but that always made him happy. It was the one area that he excelled at where his brother didn't. It was a nice feeling.

Leo watched as Chris completely took over in the kitchen. It was almost like watching Piper. It was clear that their youngest had taken after his mother. "So do you like cooking?"

Chris shrugged. "I used to. Not so much anymore. I liked cooking with my mom. I used to think she liked it too."

Leo cringed. He knew that his son was questioning his entire relationship with his mother. He wished he could say something to make Chris see that he was wrong, that Piper's rejection now had nothing to do with her future self, but to say that, he'd have to admit that he knew the truth and he just didn't think Chris was ready for that. "I'm sure your mother loved you, Chris."

"I'm glad one of us is," Chris said as he put the eggs in the pan and placed them on the stove to cook. He turned it on and then quickly turned the bacon some more.

"Why do you think she doesn't?" Leo asked. He knew why, but he wanted Chris to talk to him and open up a little bit.

"It doesn't matter," Chris said as he flipped the eggs.

"Chris, if it has anything to do with why you wanted to kill yourself then it matters," Leo said.

Chris sighed. He didn't wanna discuss this, especially with Leo, but he knew the man would keep prodding him and it wasn't as if he could leave to get away from it. For the first time since this all happened, he missed his orbing power. "Look, all my life I've felt inferior to my brother. Nearly everyone preferred him to me."

Leo felt a pang of guilt, knowing that he was one of those people. He'd treated his own son terribly. He didn't know the extent to it, but he knew enough to know that he played a big part in Chris' suicide attempt. Actually, both versions of him did.

"But I had my mom. She made the difference," Chris said. He'd also had Paige and Wyatt for a little while, but it was his mom that really got him through his dad's rejection and the entire magical world treating him like he was insignificant. Now though, he couldn't help but feel like it must have all been a lie, something she did because she felt she had to. She hated him. She'd tried to kill him. And yeah, realistically he knew that Piper didn't know he was her son, but her words and her actions made him think that on some level, the mother he grew up with felt that way. He was the same person in the future and so was she. The only difference was that in the future, she knew who he was. That couldn't make all that much difference. Piper hated him because of who he was as a person. It only stood to reason that her future self did too.

"And now you feel like that's gone and you have no one. It's not true, Chris. You're not alone," Leo said.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore," Chris said before going over to the cabinets and pulling out two plates. He filled them both with bacon and eggs and handed one to Leo.

Leo took the offered plate. He then opened one of the drawers and pulled out a couple of forks. He gave one to Chris.

"Thanks," Chris said before he began to eat his food. "So have the Elders called for you."

"Several times," Leo said. He'd heard their calls and Piper's many times since he took Chris from the Manor. He ignored each and every one of them. He of course made sure the Charmed Ones and Wyatt were okay before ignoring Piper. He wasn't going to leave them completely unprotected.

"I'm sure they'll love that," Chris said.

"I don't really care," Leo said. And he didn't. He didn't care about the Elders or even Piper right now. All he cared about was saving his sons life and sanity. He would do anything and everything for that. There was no way in hell he was going to lose his son.


	20. Chapter 20

Piper was sitting on the couch staring off into space. She'd been doing that most of the night. She couldn't sleep. She didn't even get a wink. Every time she even closed her eyes, she saw Chris lying on the floor of the back room of her club bleeding to death, or she replayed the awful memory of yelling at him and threatening to kill him, leading him to the decision to take his life in the first place.

The pain was horrible for Piper. She felt like it was going to kill her. She'd caused her own child so much pain that he actually wanted to die. It made her wanna die herself. In her mind, there was nothing worse than harming your own child. And she'd certainly harmed Chris. She 'd may not have hit him, but what she did do to him was almost worse. She'd caused him so much emotional damage that he no longer wanted to live.

Just then, Piper heard footsteps on the stairs. She didn't bother looking to see who it was. She knew it was one or both of her sisters. She didn't really wanna talk to them or anyone else, so she didn't acknowledge them.

Unfortunately for her, both Phoebe and Paige walked towards her and sat down on either side of her. Phoebe put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. How long have you been up?"

"Most of the night," PIper said.

"You should get some sleep," Phoebe said.

"I can't even close my eyes without seeing him, Phoebe," PIper said.

"It's not your fault," Phoebe said.

Paige glared at Phoebe. Lying to Piper wasn't the right way to handle this. It was her fault. It was all of their faults. They all needed to admit that before they could help Chris. "It's not just your fault. We all played a part in it."

"I'm his mother. I am supposed to protect him and make him feel loved. I pushed him over the edge. He may have been on the verge of it before then, but it was my actions that caused him to try to commit suicide," PIper said.

"Piper, I'm still not convinced that he is your son," Phoebe said. She wasn't ready to accept that. Chris had lied too many times. Yes, Paige had said that she and Leo had gone to the future and heard it, but she wasn't convinced Chris didn't hadn't done something."

PIper shook her head. "No. I can't do that anymore. I can't live in denial and refuse to face the truth. Refusing to face the truth nearly killed my son. Chris is my son. That fact nearly killed me due to what I've done to him, but it's the truth. I see him in me, in us. He looks like me and Leo. He has Paige's sarcasm and Prue's determination. And his reasons for coming make much more sense now. He didn't come here for some strange kid that he never knew and should hate. I mean, yeah, as a witch and whitelighter, he might come to save the world, but he'd be more likely to try to kill Wyatt than to save him. He came for his family."

"Okay, well, if it is true then he should've told us. He shouldn't have lied to us. If he had just told the truth…"

"Phoebe, stop!" Paige yelled. She could not believe her sister was still trying to absolve Piper, and all of them really, of responsibility in what had happened to Chris. Even Piper, Chris' mother, had accepted responsibility. "Stop blaming this on Chris! Everything he has done was to save the world and his family. We're the ones that treated him like crap. We drove him to the breaking point and it nearly killed him! It's time to accept that. You're the only one that hasn't so far! Get with the damn program and face it!"

Before Phoebe had the chance to respond, they heard a voice behind them. "Where is Christopher?"

All three sisters were startled by the newcomers. Paige yelped in surprise and turned around to see Odin. "Dude, where a damn bell or something!"

PIper stood up and glared at the Elder. "What do you want?"

"Where is Christopher? We know he isn't here," Odin said irritably.

"He's with Leo," Phoebe said.

"I know that too. Where are they? You were told that the boy was to remain in this house until his issues were dealt with. Give me one reason why I shouldn't take your powers now," Odin said. The last part was directed right at Piper.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Phoebe yelled as she jumped up. "We didn't tell them to leave! We didn't even know about it until they were gone! Leo is the one that decided to go against your stupid order, so go after him. Actually, let me give you a hand with that. Leo!"

"You really think I haven't done that yet?" Piper asked. She'd tried several times to call Leo, but he wouldn't answer. Though she couldn't blame him. He was trying to protect their son… from her. It made sense that he wouldn't answer her.

"We have as well. He is ignoring our calls and he has cloaked himself and Christopher from us," Odin said sounding really angry.

"Well, if you guys can't get to them, I don't know what you want from us. We don't know where they are," Phoebe said.

"You want me to believe that Leo has left you three and Young Wyatt with no protection and no clue as to his whereabouts?" Odin asked disbelieving.

"He's not worried about us right now. He's worried about Chris," Paige said.

"Christopher is merely a whitelighter. Leo has proven that his loyalty lies with you no matter what," Odin said.

Paige glanced over over at Piper to see if she wanted the Elders to know about Chris. Despite her mistakes, she was still his mother. It was her choice.

Piper gave a single shake of the head. She did not want this guy knowing about Chris. Who knew what he would do with the information. He and the rest of the Elders could use it against Chris. "Leo was shaken up by finding…" She trailed off as she once again pictured her son laying on the floor of her club bleeding to death. "He was shaken by finding Chris like that."

"Something you're responsible for," Odin said.

PIper glared at him. "Yes, I'm very much aware of my responsibility in what happened to Chris. I will spend the rest of my life regretting my actions and trying to find any way I can to make it right. Which is why even if I knew where Chris was, I wouldn't tell you. I won't let you people hurt him. You wanna punish me? Fine. Take my powers. Do whatever you want. I don't give a damn about me anymore. You could tell me you're gonna kill me and I wouldn't care."

"PIper, don't say that," Phoebe protested.

"He's not gonna do anything. He's not even going to take her powers? You take her powers and you inhibit the Power of Three, which inhibits not only the greater good, but Destiny as a whole. I'm guessing Leo figured that out too. He knew you wouldn't really take Piper's powers. He had nothing to fear by leaving with Chris," Paige said. She had no doubt that Leo would've left anyway in order to protect Chris, but she did believe that he had figured out what she had.

Odin glared at her for a few seconds and orbed out.

"Nice, Paige," Phoebe said.

"Thank you. He may be right about what we caused to happen, but the egotistical SOB needs to get over himself," Paige said.

"I'm gonna check on Wyatt," Piper said said as she started towards the stairs.

"Maybe we should get Leo and Chris back here. I think Piper needs Chris right now," Phoebe said.

"No. What Piper needs is irrelevant right now. Her life isn't in danger. Chris needs to be as far away from her as possible right now," Paige said. What was it gonna take for her sister to get a damn clue. This was not about Piper. Yes, Paige felt bad for Piper, but she was more concerned about Chris. Even Piper seemed to finally get that Chris' needs were the priority. Why couldn't Phoebe see that.

"Piper is not gonna hurt Chris."

"Piper feels guilty. If he's around her, he's gonna see that and feel bad himself. It's going to cause him even more pain. That is why Leo took Chris out of here before she found out the truth. He was right to do that and I'm not gonna help you undermine him," Paige said in disgust before walking upstairs herself.


	21. Chapter 21

Chris found himself in boat with Leo in the middle of the water with a bunch of fishing equipment. They'd been doing all kinds of outdoor activities, like hiking and camping out out. It was surprising to Chris. He never knew his father liked this kind of thing. He never seemed like the type to enjoy such activities. Chris didn't even think he'd done this type of thing with Wyatt when they were growing up. Then again, Wyatt was definitely not the type to do such things. He wasn't interested in that kind of thing at all. It was ironic because Chris was. He would've jumped at the chance to go fishing or camping with his father when he was a boy, but he was never asked.

Leo watched his son set up his pole like a pro. "You've done this before."

Chris chuckled. "Yeah. I love fishing. I would go all the time when I was a kid."

"Did your dad take you?" Leo asked. He knew he was probably a glutton for punishment by asking such a thing, but he couldn't help it. He hoped he wasn't a completely worthless father.

Chris snorted at the very thought. "Yeah, right. My father would never have asked me to do anything with him. I barely ever saw him, and usually it was because he was there for my brother or my mother pressured him. He never had time for me otherwise. I think he attended a grand total of four of my birthdays and the first one I don't remember."

Leo cringed. He didn't understand it. How could he abandon his own son like that? How could he treat one son perfectly and the other like crap? What was wrong with him? God, it was no wonder that Chris had such a low opinion of himself. He'd been taught he wasn't good enough, and worse it was by Leo himself.

"My uncle's the one that taught me to fish. I used to go with him and my younger cousin all the time," Chris said, oblivious to the damper in Leo's mood.

"What about your brother?" Leo asked.

Chris laughed. "No. First, he'd have to touch a dead worm and that's enough to turn him off. Then he'd have to touch a live fish. No way." It was a bit funny when he thought about it. Wyatt had a problem with worms and fish, but he had no problem with blood and guts, as he proved with all the people he tortured and killed.

"Do you hate your brother, Chris?" Leo asked curiously. He really wouldn't be able to blame Chris if he did hate Wyatt. He had good reason, and that was setting aside the fact that Wyatt turned. Chris was taught his whole life that his brother was better than him. It would be logical to hate him.

Chris's head shot up to Leo in a second. "No! I could never hate Wyatt! I loved him! I will always love him!"

Leo caught the slip of Chris' tongue, but Chris didn't seem to, too riled up realize what he said. And Leo had no intention of bringing it to his son's attention. He still wasn't ready to know that Leo knew the truth. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that the way you talk about your family makes it seem like you could, even should."

Chris sighed. "My brother never held it against me. Well, at least not when we were kids. He used it a couple of times later, but when we were kids, he never threw it in my face. In fact, sometimes it seemed to bother him more than me. He told me once or twice that he was thinking of not seeing our father anymore because of the way he treated me, but I wouldn't let him. It wouldn't be fair for him to give up time with our father because of me."

Leo felt pride for both his boys. Wyatt had understood that the way Chris was treated was wrong and Chris never held it against Wyatt that he was favored. He was glad that both of them understood who was really to blame. What he didn't really understand was that from Chris' account, Wyatt was fine then. What had happened that changed him. Leo wanted to ask Chris this, but Chris' recovery came first. He was the one in the most danger right now. "It's good that you had your brother growing up. You should hang onto those memories. You're not alone, Chris. You have people who care about you."

Chris shook his head. "Those memories mean nothing now. He's an evil overlord now. Uh, well, I mean, he works for one. He joined Wyatt," he quickly said after realizing his slip.

"I'm sorry," Leo said.

Chris shrugged. "You get the point. The brother that loved me is gone. He'd kill me if he could."

"I can't believe that," Leo said. He knew it wasn't true. He knew that from his and Paige's little trip to the future. The man they'd seen was undeniably evil. That fact couldn't be disputed, but he did care about Chris. Future Wyatt had made that very clear. That didn't mean Leo wanted him anywhere near his younger son though. Wyatt might care, but he was evil and would likely use what Chris was going through against him.

"It is," Chris said surely.

"What happened when your brother turned?" Leo asked.

"I don't really know. It happened around the time our mother died. I don't know how," Chris said. It wasn't exactly true though. He knew a little more than that. Wyatt had turned gradually, something getting to him when he was a baby. But he couldn't tell Leo that without him getting suspicious.

Leo hid it well, but he was a bit stricken by the news that Piper died. Even know when they weren't on the best of terms, he loved her and he didn't want to think about her dying. Where the hell was he when this was happening? Why didn't he heal her?

Leo did his best to shake this all off. It hadn't happened yet, he had to remind himself. He wouldn't let it happen this time around, just like he wouldn't let Chris grow up the way he did or Wyatt turn evil. He'd find a way to prevent it all.

"So we gonna start fishing or what?" Chris asked. He was done with this conversation. He didn't wanna talk anymore.

"Yeah, let's do it," Leo said before returning to his fishing pole.


	22. Chapter 22

Paige walked into the Manor and found her sister getting ready to leave. "Hey."

"Hi. I can't talk now. I've gotta get to the club," Piper said before walking past her sister towards the door.

"Piper, wait. You've been avoiding us for weeks. We've barely seen you," Paige said.

"What are you talking about? I'm home everyday," Piper said.

"Yeah, you get home late and you go straight to bed. Then you're either gone when we wake up or around for like five minutes afterwards. And on the rare occasion that you're around for more than a few minutes, you're with Wyatt and still won't talk to us," Paige said. It was time for Piper to stop running away from them. She understood that her sister was upset about Chris, but avoiding everyone wasn't going to help.

"Well, I have a son and I have the club to take care of. It's not like I'm doing it on purpose," Piper said.

"Yes, you are. Look, I know this thing with Chris…"

"Don't! I don't wanna talk about Chris," Piper said. It hurt so much to talk about Chris. She didn't need to talk about him. She already knew she was a terrible mother and that she'd ruined his life, almost taken it even.

"Yeah, I know you don't, Piper. You wanna act like everything's fine, even though it's clear you're not okay. You wanna forget about it. You don't want to deal with it. You know, I know this is hard for you, but frankly, if Chris has to deal with it, you should too," Paige said. She knew she'd probably incur a bit of Piper's wrath for confronting her like this, but she didn't care. Her family was falling apart and she was tired of watching it. Piper needed to deal with this. It was the only way she could help herself or Chris.

Piper threw her purse angrily to the floor. "You think I'm not dealing with it?! I'm dealing with it every freaking second! I nearly killed my own son! I know that! I know I'm a terrible mother! I don't need you to tell me that!"

"I never said you were a terrible mother, Piper. I don't think that. I think you made a terrible mistake and it ended horribly," Paige said.

Piper stopped shouting and tears slid down her cheeks. "No. Some things are too horrible to be called mistakes. Threatening to kill your own kid, causing him to slit his wrists, that is too horrible. I don't get to call it a mistake."

Paige took a few steps forward and grabbed her sister's hand. She then wordlessly led her into the living room.

Piper let her younger sister lead her to the couch and said nothing until they were both seated. "I don't sleep much, you know. I don't sleep because every time I close my eyes, I see him. I see his face after I tore him to shreds. I see this devastated young man with nothing but pain in his eyes. I saw it that night and I didn't care."

"I don't think it's that you didn't care. I think you were just too angry at that moment. Don't get me wrong, there's not excuse, but you weren't unfeeling," Paige said.

"I was. I didn't care about his pain. I didn't care about it until you told me he was my son," Piper said. That was hard for her to accept, but it was true. She didn't really care about what she'd done until she knew he was her son and that just wasn't right. It shouldn't just be her family she refrained from harming.

"Okay, that's not true. I saw you after you found out Chris tried to kill himself. You felt remorse and you had no idea he was your son.

"You're wrong. It rattled me, yeah. I was the cause of someone's suicide attempt. That freaked me out and I was sorry for it, for the result of what I did, but not for what I actually did do. I tried to deny that, even after Leo point blank accused me of it, but I was only sorry for what Chris did. I felt completely justified in my actions. Well, alright, not exactly justified. I knew it was wrong, but I really didn't regret other than for the fact that it caused Chris' suicide attempt. That didn't change until I found out the truth. That is so wrong. I am a witch. I'm supposed to fight for the innocent, protect human life. Instead, I was almost responsible for taking one," Piper said with a shudder.

"You weren't the only one who treated Chris badly," Paige said. Piper might be responsible for the final blow, but the rest of them weren't much better. None of them had been fair to Chris.

"No, but you and Leo immediately woke up. You realized what you'd done and you tried to make it right. I didn't lift a finger for him. I still didn't want him around and only very grudgingly, with threats, allowed him back in the house. Take away the fact that he's my son, he is a human being. Yeah, he screwed up, but he didn't deserve to be treated so terribly," Piper said. She didn't understand how this could've happened. She'd taken a good look at herself the last couple of weeks and she still couldn't understand it. When had she become someone who could be so cruel?

"If you realize that, Piper, then you've woken up too," Paige said.

"I don't understand how I could've done it. How I became the kind of person who could say those things to him and not feel even an ounce of guilt. I was so angry with him for what he said about Wyatt. I hated him for it."

"PIper, I think anger is your problem. You get angry easily and you lose it sometimes," Paige said as gently as possible. It wasn't that Piper's anger was out of control, but it was still bad sometimes and she could end up lashing out pretty badly sometimes, like with Chris.

Piper nodded. "Leo said something similar. He said I had a temper. He wasn't wrong and neither of you. You wouldn't know this, but I wasn't always like that. I got angry, but it took a lot. I was hard to anger. I was the peacemaker of the family. I was the pushover."

Paige had a hard time picturing that. The Piper she knew was always in charge and always easy to piss off. "What happened?"

"Prue died. Anger was the only thing I felt other than grief when she died and I guess I just hung onto it," Piper said with sadness in her voice. It had been almost three years since Prue died, but it still hurt a lot.

"You used it as a crutch and you never let go of that crutch," Paige said. It made sense. The death of someone you loved changed a person. Her parents' death had changed her too.

"Maybe. I think I felt I had to be like that. That I had to change in order to be strong," Piper said.

"Piper, anger doesn't make you strong. I mean, yeah, it can help you sometimes, but if you're not careful, it'll take over your life and hurt people," Paige said.

Piper nodded sadly. "Damn it, it sure did that. I nearly killed my own kid." And that was exactly how she looked at it. No, she didn't cut Chris' wrists, but she may as well have given him the knife and told him where to cut. She was responsible.

"Piper, you have to deal with your anger. I have a suggestion for that, but you won't like it," Paige warned.

Piper snorted. "It can't be worse than me nearly killing my own kid. I'll take whatever solution you can offer me to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Anger management classes," Paige said with a bit of hesitation. She wasn't sure how well her sister would react even to the idea of it.

Piper was surprised by her sister's advice. "You think I should go to therapy?"

"It wouldn't be the first time you did it. You and Leo went while you were having problmes. I know it's not the same, but it's just as important, maybe even more so. It's more serious than your marriage this time. This could destroy you and your kids," Paige said seriously.

"I'm just not sure it could even work for me. It's not like I can explain everything that makes me angry," Piper said.

"But you can a lot of it, like Prue's death and the end of your marriage. Demons may be part of it, but not the majority. Piper, I think you have to try, for Chris' sake at the very least. Show him that you can learn from what happened with him," Paige urged.

Piper sighed. "You're right. I owe it to Chris. I can't hurt him again. I will kill myself before I allow him to get to that point again. I'll look into the anger management thing. But right now, I really do need to go. Oh, Wyatt's with Shelia. She should be bringing him back in an couple hours."

"Okay."

Piper then stood up and headed back towards the door.


	23. Chapter 23

Piper was in the kitchen making breakfast. She had finally started to get back to her normal routine. That wasn’t to say she was over what happened. She would never be over it. She’d nearly killed her son and she’d have to live with that for the rest of her life. But she couldn’t hide from the world any longer. That wouldn’t do anybody any good. The best she could do now was try to better herself and she was doing her best in that aspect.

It had only been a couple of weeks since Piper had decided to follow Paige’s advice and seek professional help. She went to anger management twice a week and was now even going to meetings for grief counseling on the advice of the anger management councilor since most of her anger started with Prue’s death. She felt weird going to meetings like that after three years, but she found out that a lot of people had lost their loved ones years earlier as well and were still going to therapy.

Piper found that it wasn’t easy to go through all this and she wasn’t even sure it was working yet, but it had only been a couple of weeks. She couldn’t expect it to start working right away. She believed she was doing the right thing for her kids. They couldn’t have a mother that was so angry all the time that she damaged them. She didn’t believe that she’d hurt them physically, but she already proved that she could hurt them emotionally. She couldn’t have that. She didn’t want her kids to be afraid of her.

“Morning,” Phoebe said as she entered the room. “Where’s Wyatt?

“Well, he woke up a few times last night, so I guess his sleep pattern’s off because of it,” Piper said. Yeah, last night was not the best. Wyatt had apparently decided that sleep wasn’t needed.

“Is he sick?” Phoebe asked concerned.

“No, I think he just decided to be difficult, like kids do sometimes,” Piper said before flipping her pancakes. “You gonna eat?”

“Oh, I wish I could, but I have to get to work. I was thinking we could do lunch though,” Phoebe said.

“I can’t. After I drop Wyatt off at Darryl’s, I’m gonna be at the club until two. Then I have an anger management class,” Piper said.

“Well, it’s not a big deal if you skip one. I don’t see why you started going anyway. Is it even helping?” Phoebe asked.

Piper sighed. “You know; I would think you’d be the one to understand why I go. I do it because my anger nearly killed my own son. And I don’t know how well it’s helping so far. It hasn’t been long enough.”

“Believe me, Piper, I’m all for going to therapy when you need it, but you don’t. You had a right to be angry with Chris. What he did got Wyatt kidnapped,” Phoebe said.

“There’s being angry and there’s what I did. Yeah, Chris made a mistake, but he didn’t deserve the way I treated him, the way we all did,” Piper said.

“Piper, it’s not our fault. We had no idea who he was. Chris should’ve told us the truth. Instead, he told lie after lie, leading us to distrust him,” Phoebe argued.

Piper took it back. The anger management was already working, otherwise she would’ve exploded at her sister for trying to blame everything on Chris. Instead, she counted to ten, a tool she’d learned in class. “You know, Phoebe, I get why you feel the need to put this all on Chris. You can’t take responsibility when something you or any of the rest of us does hurts someone. You just wanna pass the blame to someone else so you don’t have to deal with it.”

Phoebe flinched. She couldn’t believe her sister would say that to her. How could she think she was that selfish? “Piper, that’s not true.”

“It actually is. It’s how you’ve always reacted to things. You’ve never been able to take responsibility. As you know already, it would drive Prue nuts. I always thought it was just because you were young. But you’re not young anymore. You’re an adult, Phoebe. When you screw up, you can’t blame someone else! You need to face your own flaws!”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Phoebe protested.

“It is, and you need to cut the crap because I’m not gonna let you use my son as your scapegoat. You know, maybe I’m not the only one that could benefit from therapy,” Piper said.

Phoebe looked at her sister for a minute before storming towards the door. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

That night, Chris and Leo were in the kitchen cooking together. Chris usually did most of the cooking while Leo supervised, not trusting his son not to hurt himself with the sharp utensils in the kitchen, but tonight, he decided he wanted to help. 

Chris wasn’t exactly wild about Leo helping him. It wasn’t that he had a problem with Leo’s company. He’d gotten used to having his father lately and it was actually kind of nice. But Leo just wasn’t the culinary type and could get in his way while he ‘helped’. Thankfully, Chris found a job for Leo that even he would have trouble screwing up. He had him fixing a salad together.

Leo had just finished chopping the ingredients for the salad and put it all into a bowl. “So, listen, I was thinking we could go for another hike tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure,” Chris said before pulling his lemon chicken from the oven. “I do love the outdoors stuff. I actually like this place in general. It’s really nice. It’s not loud like the city.”

“I know,” Leo said. He honestly wished he could move his family out here, that they could grow up the way he did, especially Chris, as he seemed too really enjoy it. He did however, make a vow to himself that he would come here with Chris as often as he could. He’d of course take Wyatt too, but Leo said this wasn’t really the older boy’s thing. 

Chris reached for the cabinet over the stove to grab some plates. That was when he noticed it. A couple of his fingers were transparent. He knew what was going on, of course. It was around the right time. His conception date. He needed to be conceived soon or he wouldn’t be born.

Chris contemplated for a minute what to do. Things had improved for him a little bit, but he still didn’t really wanna be in this world. His life had been hell. The only real bright spot had been Piper. He’d had his aunts too, but she was the one he always counted on. Now he knew she hated him. He couldn’t live with that.

“Chris, are you okay,” Leo asked, noticing that his son had frozen.

“Yeah, I guess I spaced out for a second,” Chris said before stuffing his hand in his pocket and continuing what he was doing.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

About an hour later, Leo was cleaning up from dinner. Chris had turned in not too long ago, saying he was tired and wanted to be well rested for their hike tomorrow. 

Once everything was put away, Leo decided to head to bed himself. He planned to be up early the next morning. As he paced Chris’ room, he decided to just watch Chris in the doorway for a minute. Just like with Wyatt, he liked watching Chris sleep. Watching your kids sleep was just so amazing. They looked so peaceful, and given how Chris’ life had been lately, that was a feat.

Leo watched as Chris turned in his sleep, his right hand draping over the bed. His hand that was as transparent as a ghost. 

Leo’s eyes widened and alarm bells went off in his head. It had to be his conception. It was the only thing that made sense. Chris changed a lot when he came, including the circumstances surrounding his conception. He was fading away because his existence was in jeopardy.

Leo immediately orbed out. He had to fix this now.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Piper had just left Wyatt’s room, checking on him before heading to bed herself. She’d just walked into her room when orbs appeared in front of her. Her only thoughts were that if the damned Elders showed up again, she would say screw the anger management tolls and blow whoever it was up. Much to her surprise though, it was Leo that materialized. “L…Leo?”

“Piper, I need your help,” Leo said. This was going to be quite awkward, but he had no choice. Chris would cease to exist if they didn’t do this and that was unacceptable.

“Is Chris okay?” Piper asked alarmed. Leo seemed worried and she could only assume that something happened with their son. 

“For now, but I need your help to keep it that way,” Leo said.

“What is it? I’ll do anything,” Piper said immediately.

“There’s not really any way to say this without it being weird and awkward. We need to conceive our son.”


	24. Chapter 24

Piper and Leo were lying in bed next to each other about a half an hour later. “Well, that was pretty damn awkward,” Piper said. Leo had basically showed up in her bedroom and told her they had to have sex or their son would die. Actually, there was no ‘basically’ about it. That was exactly what happened. It wasn’t exactly mood enhancing. 

“Yeah. You think it was more awkward then when you’d freeze me when we first started seeing each other,” Leo joked. 

Piper’s mouth dropped open and her face went red. She never told Leo, nor did she ever plan to. She’d only ever told her sisters. “So the first thing on my agenda tomorrow is to kill Phoebe!”

Leo chuckled. “She didn’t tell me. I figured it out when the alarm clock by your bed kept changing even though no time had apparently passed. I thought it was kind of funny.”

“Of course you did. And, yes, this was more awkward. It’s certainly not the way I would’ve chosen to conceive a child. Do you think it worked?” Piper asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll know when I see Chris,” Leo said. He believed it did though. If Chris was started to fade it was because they were on the mark of his conception and it was in danger. It was the right time for it to happen.

“Maybe we should have sooner,” Piper said, now very worried for the future of her younger son. 

“No, it had to be just right. We had to hit his conception date and I think we did,” Leo said.

“This is a weird conversation topic,” Piper said.

“Yeah, I know. Most people don’t have this kind of issue, but I suppose that’s what we get for not being normal,” Leo said.

“Is he doing any better?” Piper asked. Now that they’d hopefully secured their son’s existence, she wanted to know how he was. When she wasn’t feeling guilty over what happened, she was worried about how her son was doing. She’d had to resist calling Leo so many times. 

Leo sighed. “He’s a little better, but far from great. He’s still very depressed and doesn’t think much of himself or us and what we think of him.”

Piper felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach. She didn’t push it down like she wanted. She allowed herself to feel it because she deserved to feel it. “Well, he told you he needed to be conceived. That’s a good sign.”

Leo shook his head. “He didn’t tell me. I noticed him begin to fade.”

Piper’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head with fear. The way Leo said that made it seem like their son could die at any second. What were they doing talking if that were the case? Leo needed to go check on Chris and if he was still in danger, he needed to come back quick so they could try again. 

“No, it’s okay. It won’t happen that quick. It would take at least several hours. Still, I should get back to check on him,” Leo said before he started to get up.

“You’ll be able to tell right away?” Piper asked. 

“Yeah, it’s something that would take effect immediately,” Leo said as started putting his pants on.

“Go, but come back either way. I need to know,” Piper said.

Leo nodded and orbed out as he was putting his shirt on.

Piper waited anxiously for what seemed like forever, but was only a few minutes. Then Leo appeared with a smile. “Are we good?”

“Yeah. He’s completely fine,” Leo said. He’d managed to check his son from head to toe, thankfully without waking him.

“Thank God,” Piper said with a sigh of relief. Then she placed her hand on her blanket covered stomach. “I guess we’re having another baby.”

Leo’s smiled widened and he sat back down on the bed. “Yeah, we are.”

Piper got up and started getting dressed.

“Are you happy, Piper?” Leo asked. He had to know if she wanted Chris. A big part of him believed she did. She had without question worked with him to save Chris’ existence and she seemed quite worried about him, but if there was any part of her that still resented Chris, he needed to know.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m as happy as I can be with what I’ve done,” Piper said. Honestly, she didn’t feel she deserved to be happy, even with the knowledge that she was pregnant. She nearly killed her son. She should never be able to be happy again.

“Piper, I’m asking if you can love Chris without any resentment,” Leo said.

“I wish you didn’t have to ask me that, but I get why you do,” Piper said before turning back to her ex-husband. “Yes, I can love him like that. I swear, Leo, I will not fail him again.”

“We both failed him, Piper. I was far from innocent in this time and certainly in the future,” Leo said.

“I’m the reason he took a knife to his wrists. When I look back, I can’t believe that I could do that to anybody. I hate what happened. I nearly killed my son and I’ll never forgive myself for it. But I think something drastic had to happen for me to realize that I had a big problem. I can only say that I wish that drastic thing hadn’t been Chris trying to kill himself,” Piper said.

“Me too.”

“You knew though, didn’t you? You knew that my temper was a problem,” Piper said. There was really no way for him not to know. He had to have seen how drastic she’d changed.

“Yes. I should’ve said something to you. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if I had. At first I thought it was just Prue’s death that had you that way. I told myself that the anger would go away once you started to feel better. Truthfully, I didn’t talk to you about it because I was afraid it would just make you angrier,” Leo admitted. He was a pacifist at heart. He always preferred to avoid a fight if he could. This was one he should’ve had out with Piper though.

“I probably would have. Like I said, I think something had to happen before I could see it. I see it now and I’m getting help. I’ve been going to anger management and grief counseling for Prue,” Piper told him. She wanted him to know that she was going to be better for their sons. She would never allow one of them to be hurt by her anger again.

Leo was surprised to hear that, though pleasantly surprised. It seemed Piper really did see how much she’d changed in the last few years. “I’m glad. Even as you are, you’re a wonderful mother, but our kids deserve to have you without the rage.”

“I don’t want them to fear me, and I don’t want them to ever feel like they need to do what Chris did again,” Piper said firmly. The only thing that kept her going now was the desire to make things up to Chris and make sure she did better for him and Wyatt.

“Neither do I. I should get back. Chris could wake up and I don’t want him alone,” Leo said.

“You should look in on Wyatt first. I know you must miss him,” Piper said.

“Yeah, I do. I think I will go see him for a minute,” Leo said before standing up.

“Things will be okay, right?” Piper asked hopefully.

“Yeah, I think they will. Our family is on a rough road right now, but I think we’ll make it off,” Leo said before walking towards his son’s nursery.


	25. Chapter 25

Chris woke up the next morning and rubbed his eyes, just as he did every morning. Seconds after he did, he realized something was wrong. He looked at his hands and realized they were corporeal again. That wasn't right. He had been fading. The time for him to be conceived was approaching and he should be disappearing because his parents were apart. The only thing that could've stopped his fading was if... Well, Chris chose not complete that thought because it was nauseating just to think about. Anyway, how could it happen? Leo and Piper barely even spoke nowadays. In fact, they hadn't been around each other in weeks. He supposed they could of patched things up last night, but what were the odds of that? Unless...

Chris got up and quickly got dressed. Then he left the room and went down to the living room where he found Leo sitting on the couch. 

“Morning,” Leo greeted. 

“How long?” Chris asked with a glare. 

“How long what?” Leo asked. 

“You know what?! You know. When did you find out?” Chris asked. Leo had to know. It was the only thing that made sense with Leo suddenly reconciling with Piper, and that must of happened for him to still be alive. Leo must have seen his fading hands and went to fix it. 

Leo sighed. He knew he couldn't hide it anymore, and honestly, it was probably better that there weren't anymore secrets between them. He just worried because he knew Chris wouldn't take it well. “Since the day we came here.”

“How?” Chris asked. 

“You made a comment about stopping your birth, so I asked Paige to help me find your parents. She wrote a spell that ended up taking us to the future,” Leo told him.

Chris' eyes widened in horror. “You went to the future? Are you crazy? Do you know the kind of damage you could've done.”

“First of all, I'm not sure it could've gotten much worse. Second, it was more like we were viewing the future. We couldn't affect anything and no one could hear or see us. We watched a conversation between my future self and Wyatt. 

“You knew this whole time? Why the hell didn't you tell me that?!” Chris asked angrily. 

“Because you weren't ready for me to know. You needed to recover and you didn't need to worry about what I knew while that was going on,” Leo said.

Chris snorted. “Recover.”

“Yeah, and you finally started to. At least I thought so,” Leo said sadly. Obviously he was wrong since Chris had hid that he was fading. He suspected that his son knew last night, but it was confirmed when Chris confronted him. 

“You listened to me tell you things. You asked me about my father, and all along you knew you were him! You take some twisted humor in that?” Chris asked.

“No. Actually it disgusted me. I hate myself for what I did to in the future, or I guess what I didn't do is more accurate. All I can say now is that I will make sure it doesn't happen again,” Leo swore. 

“Yeah, right,” Chris said skeptically.

“I don't expect you to believe me right now. I'm working against twenty years of painful memories. I get that. But I swear, it will be different. I love you, Chris,” Leo told him.

“You barely know me,” Chris pointed out. 

“Maybe, but what I do know, I love. I know you came back here to save your brother and you were willing to risk anything for that, even possible rejection, and unfortunately, that's what you got,” Leo said.

Chris flinched slightly. “Does.... Does she know?” 

Leo didn't need to ask who he meant. “Yeah. Paige told her after we left.

Chris sighed unhappily. He didn't want Piper to know about him. She'd feel bad because he was her kid and she hated him, but she'd still hate him. She'd still think he was the worst thing that happened to her and probably secretly wish he was dead.

“Chris, last night, when I told her what we had to do...”

“Oh, God, stop!” Chris begged as he started to feel sick. The last thing he wanted to hear about was the night his parents conceived him. It was bad enough that he knew it happened.

Leo chuckled slightly. He realized how bad it must sound to Chris. No one wanted to hear about their parents having sex. But he was trying to make a point and he was determined to make it. “She didn't hesitate. She didn't even need an explanation. She just...”

“Dude, you're making it worse!” Chris whined. He knew his father was trying to make some kind of point, but it was really going over his head, as all he could picture was Leo telling Piper they had to do it. 

“Alright, I'm not saying this right. What I'm trying to tell you is that she wanted to save you just as much as I did. Piper knows how badly she screwed up,” Chris said.

Chris shrugged and looked away. “It's not her fault. She can't help how she feels about me.”

“Chris, Piper cares about you. I know that's hard to believe, maybe even harder than believing I do. What she did to you was terrible. She knows that and she's trying to get help for it.?” Leo said.

Chris took a seat in a chair across from Leo. “What do you mean help? What does she need help with?”

“She's started taking some anger management classes. She realized she has an anger problem,” Leo said.

“Only with me,” Chris mumbled.

“You think that. You really think you're the only thing that makes her angry?” Leo asked. 

“Well, I mean, she's always had a temper, but I never saw her like this. It started with me,” Chris said sadly.

“You're wrong. If you just saw after coming here, it's because she got the help she needed before you were old enough to see it in your timeline. I know that because she's been angry for a long time. It did not start when you came. It started when her sister, Prue, died,” Leo told him.

“Really?” Chris asked, unsure if he should believe him. Leo might lie to make him feel better. 

Leo nodded. “She fell apart when Prue died. The only way to keep herself from completely losing it was by turning the pain to anger. She just never really let it go. It got worse and worse. I take a good deal of responsibility. I should've said something to her a lot sooner, but I just thought it would make her anger worse.”

“Well, if nothing else, I make her anger worse. She's more angry around me then anyone else,” Chris said. 

“You were her most recent outlet, and it wasn't right. The way she treated you, the way we all did, was wrong. Please, don't ever think there's a good excuse for the way you were treated, and even Piper sees that now. That's what finally got her to see how much help she needed,” Leo said.

“I don't wanna talk about this anymore,” Chris said before quickly getting up and fleeing from the room.

Leo sighed and reminded himself that getting Chris to see that he was loved was going to be a process, especially where Piper was concerned. She'd wrecked all of Chris' faith in her when she was went after him. But it would happen. He swore, he would get his son through this.


End file.
